The argument for dropping it
Optical SPDIF is a 1983 interface. It cannot carry the newest object-based audio formats, it takes board space, it needs a light pipe through the housing, and it costs a little over a dollar per unit including assembly. Every review of every competitor box calls it legacy.
On a bill of materials for a box that sells for under a hundred dollars, a dollar is not nothing. We came close to cutting it twice.
What the inbox said
Then we counted. Across a year of support email, audio was the second most common category after network problems, and a clear share of those threads ended with the customer plugging into optical because their amplifier predates HDMI ARC.
- A twelve-year-old receiver with excellent speakers and no HDMI input worth using.
- A soundbar whose ARC implementation drops out whenever the television updates.
- A hearing-loop system in a living room, which is optical-only in practice.
- A second television in a workshop, wired to a stereo amplifier from a previous decade.
None of those people are going to replace an amplifier because a streaming box removed a port. They are going to buy a different box.
The decision
We kept it. The port stays on the rear panel next to the AV output, and it will stay there as long as the support data says people are using it.
If you are choosing an audio route
HDMI to a receiver is still the best-quality option and the one we recommend first. Optical is there for the systems HDMI cannot reach.
Written by Jonas Halvorsen, Hardware at OSM.
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