Sound first. While 8K and other compelling video/gaming features make the HDMI headlines, AudioQuest’s 48 and eARC-Priority Series HDMI cables are our best-sounding HDMI cables yet.
The greater precision and tighter manufacturing tolerances required to deliver HDMI cables that transfer up to 48Gbps bandwidth mean all of AudioQuest’s tried-and-true ingredients and techniques matter every bit as much as ever before.
Pearl 48 features high-purity Long-Grain Copper conductors that have been direction-controlled for the most efficient dissipation of radio-frequency noise.
Product Features:
48Gbps Bandwidth
AudioQuest “48” HDMI cables can transfer up to professional 10K Ultra-HD video. The 48Gbps bandwidth is made possible by 4 balanced audio/video pairs capable of 12Gbps each. The precision and tighter manufacturing tolerances required to produce HDMI cables that transfer up to 48Gbps bandwidth mean many of AudioQuest’s tried-and-true ingredients and techniques are more important than ever before.
8K/10K
AudioQuest 48Gbps HDMI cables have the bandwidth required for video with resolutions up to 10K and resolutions/refresh rates up to 8K/60 and 4K/120. All AudioQuest HDMI cables are completely backwards compatible with existing 4K displays.
LONG-GRAIN COPPER CONDUCTORS (HDMI)
In AudioQuest HDMI cables, Solid Long-Grain Copper, Silver-Plated Copper, or Perfect-Surface Silver conductors improve Noise-Dissipation and overall performance. Pearl 48 uses Long-Grain Copper for its conductors.
LEVEL 1 NOISE DISSIPATION (HDMI): DIRECTION-CONTROLLED
This is the foundation of AudioQuest’s Noise-Dissipation technologies. Traditional “100% shielding” is not enough to guard against the increasingly prevalent effects of Wi-Fi, cellular, and satellite radiation. In AudioQuest HDMI cables, all 19 conductors are Direction-Controlled to minimize the RF Noise that damages performance by “directing” or draining it away from the most vulnerable circuits. Additional Noise-Dissipation techniques (Levels 2 and up) are applied as budget permits to further reduce noise.
eARC: LGC + Level-1 Noise Dissipation
Because sound matters, the eARC conductors in AudioQuest's 48-Series HDMI cables receive equal love and affection, featuring the same superior metals, Direction-Controlled Conductors, and Noise-Dissipation technologies as the main AV data pairs. In AudioQuest eARC-Priority cables, the main A/V data pairs have Cinnamon-level performance (Forest 48’s solid 0.5% Silver + Carbon & Vodka 48’s Level-3 Noise-Dissipation), while the eARC data pair and Ground-Reference drain use all the same advanced design ingredients as their “48” counterparts. HDMI’s Audio Return Channel (ARC) sends audio from a TV to a soundbar or AV receiver for greater simplicity and flexibility in system setup. Hardware’s previous ARC capabilities max out at lossy (compressed) 5.1-channel surround sound. Today’s HDMI 2.1 hardware supports enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC), which increases the digital bandwidth dramatically to support uncompressed and lossless high-resolution multichannel audio, including Dolby TrueHD and Atmos, and DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS: X.