Maximum length for USB, HDMI, Optical/coaxial audio?

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SvenOkonomi

New member
Im trying to move my HTPC out of the cinema room because its too noisy (quiet creepy scenes get killed by the buzzing fans).

I will require 1 working USB line for my remote, some form of decent audio transportation, be it coaxial or optical, and a HDMI cable capable of 1080p video.

Is it plausible to run 33ft/10m. of these cables and still be able to use my HTPC as usual?
 
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sullivan

Member
USB - 5 meters is the max for USB 2.0. You'll need repeater cables, which are basically USB cables with a one-port hub at the far end. You can connect them one to another to reach 10 meters. They are powered from the USB cable (i.e. from the port on the downstream hub) so they can't supply much power; use a real hub with its own power supply if this is a problem. Or you can just use a series of actual powered USB hubs. Max is five hubs in series.

For digital audio, coax is a much better bet than optical for a ten meter run. But even better is AES/EBU, which uses differential signaling on shielded twisted pair cable. If you must use S/PDIF, optical has much greater attenuation than coax. Optical might work at 10 meters if you have a really good cable, particularly glass fiber (normal Toslink cable is plastic fiber).

HDMI at 1080p should be fine at 10 meters, particularly if you use a Category 2 cable.
 
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