HDMI cables offer countless benefits over older and analogue connector cables, but how do they perform when it comes to sound?

In part 1 of this guide, we looked at how HDMI cables are able to offer superior quality sound by maintaining audio signals in their pure digital form. There are two other advantages HDMI cables have over other cable types when it comes to rendering sound, and these are ease of use and intelligence.

Ease of use

HDMI is able to combine multi-channel audio with video in just one single cable, which can dramatically simplify your home entertainment system and in particular, your audio setup. This can also be very handy if you add new devices to your setup in the future, as you won’t need to clutter up your living room with a multitude of different cables.

Intelligence

Not many people know this, but HDMI cables support two-way communication between the audio source and the device that renders the sound. For example, between a DVD player and an A/V receiver. This enables a world of new functionality, as well as enabling devices to deliver the most effective audio format without you having to waste time scrolling through audio formats to choose the most appropriate.