nMP optical audio laser fail?

My nMP optical audio has worked fine for about a year. Recently I heard a bit of crackling now and then and after a week it went dead. I tried a few cables and noticed no red light. The line out works fine. System report says there is a digital audio interface (when there is an optical cable plugged in). Running OS 10.11.6.

Before I go through the hassle of fixing it for a simple audio problem (its still under applecare) I wanted to check the experience here. Is this just the first thing that goes in a series of failures, or if its probably just the laser which I can probably live without. Does the nMP need to go back to depot to have this fixed. I'll check out some of the tear down sited in the mean time.

Long shot, thanks for reading.