How long can an optical audio cable be?

Answer 1

I'm a theatre and stage technician who primary works in the area of sound design. We commonly use optical cables in the theatre to send as many as 8 full audio streams at a time down the line using something known as ADAT. While professional optical cables are identical to consumer cables, except that they're often much less expensive, they are sometimes used in runs that can go extremely far, as much as 100 feet or more. That said, the technical specification from Toshiba, who invented the cables, is 32.8 feet.