We got a new sky glass gen 2 tv on saturday and it seems that the only audio output is through eARC and my dac doesn't have a eARC connection. For using normal 2 channel stereo would it affect the sound quality going through a device that enables me to go from a eARC cable to a optical cable.
An EARC to SPDIF or TOSLINK converter box might might reduce hi-res audio content SQ to something like 16/48 stereo. Basically, the highest resolution sound is (often) digitally encrypted and decryption key licenses for full sound quality are strictly limited to big companies that make things like expensive AVR boxes and or fancy sound bars.
How good 16/48 can sound depends a lot on the quality of the conversion algorithm. I probably wouldn't expect it to be great from a cheap box, but I could be wrong.
Then there is the issue that SPDIF/TOSLINK carries an embedded clock that is likely to be jittery. To fix that properly in more or less real time requires and ASRC and a low-jitter crystal reference clock. Many dacs with SPDIF type inputs don't have ASRC and or don't have ultra-low jitter clocking. It means there may more SQ reproduction non-ideality on the dac side.
The above having been said, many home hi-fi systems are not that great to begin with so SQ may be judged as acceptable despite any of the above type issues. Anyway, converter boxes are fairly cheap so its easy to to try as see if you like the sound they can provide.
How good 16/48 can sound depends a lot on the quality of the conversion algorithm. I probably wouldn't expect it to be great from a cheap box, but I could be wrong.
Then there is the issue that SPDIF/TOSLINK carries an embedded clock that is likely to be jittery. To fix that properly in more or less real time requires and ASRC and a low-jitter crystal reference clock. Many dacs with SPDIF type inputs don't have ASRC and or don't have ultra-low jitter clocking. It means there may more SQ reproduction non-ideality on the dac side.
The above having been said, many home hi-fi systems are not that great to begin with so SQ may be judged as acceptable despite any of the above type issues. Anyway, converter boxes are fairly cheap so its easy to to try as see if you like the sound they can provide.
Thank you Mark for your reply I might try one of the converters to see if the sound for general tv watching sound's better through my hifi. I enjoyed listening to my tv through my hifi. The new tv doesn't sound terrible it has 7 speakers built in to it and the bass is good for a tv. For me I want the best sound I can get but if I get a little bit more sound improvement using a converter then that's ok for now. With my old tv I used the optical to connect it to my dac and it sounds better than our new tv but not a lot better the new tv sounds good for a tv 🙂. For just music listening I listen through my cd player which I have connected to my dac through coaxial