A:Answer These things are stamped out for a few cents, from the cheapest parts that exist. They probably burn out from the heat they generate. Unfortunately, "real" D/A converters start at around $400 (the Schiit Bifrost is terrific) but they will last for many years. It's probably not worth spending that kind of money just to link to a sound bar, and even if you have a nice component stereo, the TV sound is going to be thin, and certainly not full fidelity. This is a design/marketing choice, as the Toslink (optical) interface standard has more than enough bandwidth to support excellent sound. TVs used to have line signal analog (RCA red/white) sound output jacks. I guess the marketing departments of the world decided most people don't care, and you could just pay more for an inferior solution. They also decided that people prefer cool looking edge-to-edge picture TVs, so now you get teeny tiny 1968 Volkswagen speakers pointed downward, or even toward the wall, so sound is muffled no matter how loud you set your TV. It's sort of like, the cheapest price wins again.
