AudioQuest Root Beer 18 Active Optical HDMI Cable - HAOC - 20.0 Meter

AudioQuest Root Beer 18 Active Optical HDMI Cable - HAOC - 20.0 Meter

What It Does in Your System

Sixty-Five Feet, With Nothing Lost Along the Way

At twenty meters, copper HDMI simply doesn't work — the signal degrades past recovery well before it arrives. Root Beer 18 solves that by carrying the audio and video over optical fiber, where distance stops being the enemy. It's AudioQuest's premier solution for long HDMI runs demanding full 18Gbps bandwidth, rated to 100 feet.

This is the cable for a ceiling projector, a display on the far side of a great room, or an equipment rack tucked into a closet down the hall.

Optical Fiber Means Total RF Immunity

Fiber doesn't just survive distance — it's fundamentally immune to the radio-frequency noise that surrounds every modern home. Optical fibers are non-conductive, so like a Toslink cable they neither pick up nor transmit induced RF noise, and they provide galvanic isolation for the audio/video signal between your source and display.

Root Beer's eARC and communication conductors, which do use metal, are direction-controlled to minimize RF noise that would otherwise degrade the performance of the active circuitry at each end.

No Power Supply to Find a Home For

The active circuitry draws its power from the HDMI port itself, so there's no wall wart to hide, no outlet to locate at the projector end, and no additional point of failure in the run. Plug it in and it works.

That matters more than it sounds on a run this long, where the far end is often in a ceiling or behind a wall with no convenient power nearby.

Is This Right for You?

A few things to confirm before you order:

• This cable is directional. The source end goes to your player or receiver, the display end to your TV or projector, and the connectors are marked. It will not work reversed — critical to confirm before the cable disappears into a conduit or ceiling.
• 18Gbps is not 48Gbps. Root Beer 18 fully covers 4K/60, HDR, eARC, and 8K/30. If you need 4K/120 or 8K/60 for a current-generation gaming console or flagship display, you want a 48Gbps cable instead.
• Handle the fiber with care during the pull. Optical fiber won't tolerate the abuse a copper cable shrugs off. Avoid sharp bends, never pull by the connector body, and don't crush the jacket against a stud or joist.

Setup & Installation

Connect the source-marked end to your receiver, streamer, or disc player and the display-marked end to your TV or projector. Because this is an active optical design, that orientation is not optional — reversing the ends produces no picture at all. Check the marking twice before committing the cable to a wall or conduit.

Root Beer 18 is in-wall rated, so it can be run inside a wall or ceiling where local code permits. Pull it gently by the jacket rather than the connector, keep bends generous, and if you're routing through conduit, confirm the connector will clear before you start — HDMI ends are bulkier than the cable behind them.

Features & Specifications

Hybrid Active Optical Cable (HAOC) Construction
Audio and video travel over optical fiber, eliminating the signal degradation that defeats copper HDMI at long distances.

HDMI Port Powered
The active circuitry runs off the HDMI connection itself, so no AC adaptor or nearby outlet is required at either end.

Total RF Immunity and Galvanic Isolation
Non-conductive fiber neither picks up nor transmits induced RF noise, and it electrically isolates source from display.

Level 4 Noise-Dissipation
Direction-controlled metal conductors handle eARC and control duties, draining RF noise away from the circuits most vulnerable to it.

Specifications

• Length: 20.0 meters (approx. 65.6 ft)
• Bandwidth: 18Gbps
• HDMI Specification: 2.0b
• Maximum Resolution: 4K/60; 8K/30 (8-bit, 4:2:0)
• Supported Features: HDR, eARC, ARC
• Design: Hybrid Active Optical Cable (HAOC); directional
• Maximum Rated Length for the Series: 100 ft (30m)
• Power: Powered by the HDMI port; no AC adaptor required
• Noise Rejection: Level 4 Noise-Dissipation; direction-controlled eARC and control conductors
• Installation: In-wall rated
• Quantity: Single cable

Frequently Asked Questions

Does it need a power supply?
No. The HDMI port supplies everything the active circuitry needs, which is a real advantage when the far end of the run is at a ceiling projector with no outlet nearby.

Does it matter which end goes where?
Yes. Active optical cables are directional — source end to your player or receiver, display end to your TV or projector, marked on the connectors. Reversed, you'll get no picture.

Will it handle 4K/120 for gaming?
No. That requires 48Gbps bandwidth. Root Beer 18 delivers 4K/60, HDR, eARC, and 8K/30 — excellent for movies, streaming, and projector duty, but not high-frame-rate gaming.

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