Xbox & 5.1 audio?
 

I just purchased a new receiver and finally hooked up my Xbox to it :D I've noticed though I'm only getting a 2.1 signal if the diagram on the receiver is correct. Should the Xbox be able to do 5.1 by default or do I need something else (I do have it set to dolby digital [or whatever it is I don't have the machine in front of me] not the regular stereo)? For instance House of the Dead 3 has the symbol for 5.1 audio but I'm still only getting it as a 2.1 output. I'm trying to figure out if the problem is w/ the Xbox, the receiver or the user -ptth-

TIA

I'd say it's the user ;)

There should be an option in the XBOX dashboard to set the audio to Dolby Surround.

I did that (that's what the dolby digital thing I couldn't remember was :o). I just checked and it is set for surround. That's why I was curious to see if some other type of connector was needed as you generally don't see surround signals over two (L/R) audio cables, atleast that I've seen. Usually it's a single digital or split out by channel.

Get ready to spend $20 buddy. You need the Advanced AV Pack.

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/209498.asp

Also you will need a shit I forgot what they are called. Anyway a cable with the red lights on the ends.

If you have a HD TV you're going to need this AV Pack.

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/209496.asp

Hope I've helped ya out.

PS. Dude got ready 5.1 in a game forking makes gaming so much better. It's saved my ass on Xbox Live a few times cause I could hear where a person was cause of the sound. It works great on Rainbow Six. I could hear someone reloading thier gun and know where the nouse was coming from and shit.

Talking about an optical cable (the red light is "in" the cable itself and not just on the connector) right? Figured it was something like that :D

Thx :up:

Yeah I mean that for some reason the name just lift my mind. Get the 2nd AV Pack if you use HD TV for gaming. You will spend around $30 for 5.1 but man trust me it's well worth it.

The right name of that cable is a fiber optic cable.

Yep, all covered....

Get the HD pack if you have a HDTV or just get the Advanced A/V Pack.

Then, Fiber Optic CAble....

Check EBAY for REALLY cheap prices if you can wait....but how can you ;)

Yep, have to have the A/V pack and an optical cable.

Crock of crap. I was pissed when I bought my X-box and an Optical cable and then had to run back to the store and get the A/V pack. The digital out should have been built in.

Yeah, it should have been...but what are you gonna do, piss and moan. It's MS, they want your money....of course I needed the HIGH-DEF pack anyways.....

...and damn KOTOR made me cave in and give it to them. :D

i'm a top down theorist... make the component (or HDMI) and optical outs standard and make the people who want composite and stereo RCA buy the low-fi kits. :D

Another option is to open up the box and make your own coaxial connector: http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/digital-output.php

ah... thanks.... I think I'd rather blow the $30 bucks and not blow my box away (considering my lack of skill w/ a soldering iron ;)).

ps2 would never do that to you. ;)

I just got the HiDef pack and hooked up the optical cable, and when I play games I think I'm getting 5.1, (it's not 2.1) but my receiver doesn't recognize the signal as Dolby Digital. Should it, or do I need to change the settings on the dash?

Nah, PS2 makes its money by requiring owners to purchase things that are even more "must have" than DD/DTS 5.1 for most people: memory cards, support for more than 2 controllers, and ethernet.

Just because sound is coming out of all your speakers doesn't make it DD 5.1. If your receiver doesn't report that the sound is DD 5.1 or DTS, then it isn't. You must turn on Dolby Digital (and DTS if your receiver supports it) in the Dashboard to get DD 5.1.

I don't think anyone implied that only MS charges for crap that should be standard.

I just hope the next gen systems have digital out and built in memory (preferably high capacity flash or something similar as I trust that more than HDs), but I don't have my hopes up.

I can live without packed in HDs and ethernet (HDs not used in gameplay for anything interesting so far, don't have broadband access,nor much interest in online gaming).

I sure hope the next Xbox has DVI or HDMI. :drool:

My point was that there is a better case IMO for included 4-controller support, ethernet, and a HD (or some other built-in memory) than there is (or at least was) for HiDef and 5.1 support. I say was because at the time the Xbox first came out, not many people had HDTV or 5.1 systems while 4-port consoles were the non-Sony norm. That has changed in the past few years, so I think the Xbox 2 should include these connections on the base unit.

Also, (before someone brings it up) as far as the ever popular Xbox DVD dongle issue goes, I think MS was wise not to include it. The various companies that claim patents on DVD and MPEG-2 technology (one of which is Sony) demand a percentage royalty for every hardware unit sold that includes DVD/MPEG-2 support. MS would have had to increase the price of each Xbox, regardless of whether the person intended to use it as a DVD player, in part to pay their competitor Sony the royalties it claims. Sony, of course, had the luxury of being able to include DVD support without this added cost.

While Xbox HDs can and do go bad, it is not common enough for me to be overly worried about. Anything really important I can back up to my PC and/or a memcard. Besides, the flash-type memory is not without its problems either.

On the contrary, the Xbox HD has been used for a lot of interesting and useful things in gameplay so far (not even counting uses with a modded Xbox). Most games use the HD to cache levels etc. in order to reduce the effect of DVD load time. Many Xbox Live games offer new downloadable content--levels, maps, planes, vehicles, characters, etc. The Xbox allows custom soundtracks during games (admittedly, this feature isn't implemented in enough games, which is sad since it's easy to do). Most of this would not be possible without a HD.

Also, ethernet is not just for broadband/Xbox Live. Networking Xboxes over a LAN for 8-16 player Halo goodness is some of the most fun you can have with video games IMO. Again, throw in what you can do with a modded Xbox, and it is that much more important.

Just be sure NOT to blow $30-40 on an optical cable, when they can be had on eBay for about $4.00. I swear, people blow so much money on cables it's amazing, and if you shop around a bit you save a ton.

or Radio Shack. I bought my optical cable splitter and extra optical cable from there and they work fine. I was already stuck with the MONSTER optical cable so I used that for my XBOX and Rat Shack cable went to my ps2. I just bought a video game swither to handle switching the VIDEO and the optical audio from both game console goes to the splitter which goes to my stereo and that's it.

You don't want accessories packed into a console that will drive up the price, yet you want more expensive cables packed in that will surely drive up the price?

Sir you can take your logic and go to hell. Logic has no place on the net.

If I'm reading it right, I think what Josh Hinkle was saying was that he doesn't want more expensive cables packed in, but he does want the optical digital audio output port built into the machine. And I agree with that! Xbox really should have come with the optical out built in, like the PS2.

I guess the reasoning behind Microsoft's decision is that anyone who has optical audio is at least going to have s-video inputs on their TV as well, so why not include it in the adapter... kinda makes sense, I suppose it helps reduce the cost of the xbox unit. similar to how Nintendo reduced the cost of the Gamecube by putting the DAC inside the component cable instead of inside the gamecube itself.

OK, I believe I read through and did not see this answered, but you may not be getting a Dolby Digital signal becasue you may have to assign it on the receiver itself. I have a Denon 3802 and you have to assign on the Digital inputs screen what the setting is for. For example, on my Xbox I assigned the Optical 1 to the TV/DBS, this may or may not be the problem since I have not seen you respond to say you definitely have DD 5.1 now. Play a game like Halo and you will know for sure that you have DD 5.1 or the opening storm sequence in Ninja Gaiden which shakes the walls a little.

I didn't say I wanted the optical cable packed in. Just that the connection should be built into the machine for optical or digital coax output for 5.1 sound. That apparently doesn't drive up cost as the digital audio outs where built into the PS2 and GC which cost the same and $100 less than the x-box respectively.

I don't mind buying an optical cable, but I shouldn't have to buy an additional accessory on top of the required cable to get 5.1 sound.

Still lame as the PS2 and GC had digital audio outs built in and cost the same or less than the X-box. But your right, not having 4 controller ports on the PS2 is lame, though I don't care as I only play single player games anyway.

Agree totally here, I just want my game systems to play games. It costs hardware companies around $20 a pop in DVD licensing fees to add DVD movie playback, and any cost is likely to get passed on to the consumer. Movies look much better on stand alone players than on game systems (though the X-box is much better than the PS2 in this regard) thus I have no use for DVD play back in my consoles and I"m glad MS made it an extra feature rather than tacking the cost on to the systems.

I'm just overly paranoid as I've had three PC HDs die on me, and never had a problem with any flash memory, SD cards etc.

All crap I don't care about. The loading times is nice, but load times are still fastest on the GC which has no HD, so an HD is necessary in that regard. Custom soundtracks don't interst me. I only play, for the most part, platformers, role playing games, adventure games and a few actions games. In these the sound and music are part of the game design and I want to hear the original stuff. I can see the value for extreme sports games and things like that, which have crappy pop alternative soundtracks, but I don't play that crap so it's not a concern for me.

Downloadable content is a great thing, but I have no internet access at home, and don't plan on getting any in the foreseeable future, so it's a moot point for me.

Again, I only play single player games, so not relevent for me.

I see where all these things are worthwhile to many, maybe even most gamers. But for my money, all I need and want to pay for is a system that plays games and can get 5.1 sound and component hookups without having to buy anything additionally besides the respective cables.

The GC does not have digital audio outs built in. In fact there is no way to get digital audio out at all from the Gamecube, either with or without an adapter. I think Nintendo really screwed up in this regard.

Gamecube has no digital audio out, no DAC for component video, no AC adapter built in (the AC adapter is an external brick as you all know). Nintendo really made the GC bare-bones. :) Which is why it's so tiny and inexpensive!

[
Gamecube has no digital audio out, no DAC for component video, no AC adapter built in (the AC adapter is an external brick as you all know). Nintendo really made the GC bare-bones. :) Which is why it's so tiny and inexpensive! [/B][/QUOTE]

Actually it is only brand new Gamecubes that do not have the ability for component video(I believe). Nintendo took this feature out for the reason to cut costs. I have a DAY1 gamecube and if I wanted to I can order from Nintendo a component cable set to go with my gamecube.

Also of note everyone, where has this thread gone. The original post asked about how to get DD5.1 on his Xbox, not what we hate or don't hate about what the companies have put inot their systems or not. It is safe to say, for the most part, that everyone bought their systems knowing what it could or could not do as far as capabilities.

Actually I didn't :o My main consideration when choosing was what games would it play, all other considerations were secondary quite frankly (and why it's taken me over a year to actually hook the Xbox up to the receiver ;)). Case in point since I ordered the PS2 online I wasn't even sure what to expect and was a little annoyed/dismayed when it showed up w/o the capability to save games w/o purchasing another device/module :(

Hey lit us know how you like 5.1 in your games when you get it all set-up.

Money wise the xbox is 10 times the value of the PSX2. I mean how many memory cards would you need to buy to make 8 GB's? I like what the xbox offers hardware wise myself it's a much better value. I'm not saying Xbox is a better system but for what you get it's a much better value hardware wise.

PS. Lit me know if this is a console bash. Don't see it could be I mean really any moron could see hardware wise xbox beats all consoles right now.

Well do, it's going to be a little while though as I'm going to wait until the rewardzone points from the receiver purchase "cash out" and the coupons are sent :D

I had no idea you needed the A/V pack to get 5.1 sound when I bought the X-box. I figured you'd just need an optical cable, just like the PS2, since the X-box came out after the PS2 and was highly touted as the best hardware. Seems silly to leave that out IMO.

So quick question then. My tv is the JVC AV 27D500 (http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?model...2&archive=true) which has both S-Video and Component Imput. Right now my DVD player is hooked up to the s-video and optical audio to the reciever. So i plan to get an optical splitter to hook both xbox and dvdplayer to the optical in of the reciever.

Can i get the advanced AV pack and hook it up to the component input? The resolution seems strange in the specs..700, isn't the next standard number above 480 720?

I have to admit, that while it does sound better, it isn't much better than the pro-logic surround I use for my GC and PS2 in most games. I guess many games just don't have the sound programmed that well.

Then again, I'm far from an audiophile.

ALL Gamecubes do not have a DAC for component video, regardless of when or where you bought it. The older gamecubes have a digital out, so you can hook up a component cable to it. Newer gamecubes do not have a digital out, so you cannot hook up a component cable to it. The component cable that you buy from Nintendo has a DAC inside of it, which is why the Gamecube costs less and the component cable costs more. It's also why you can't buy the component cable from anywhere else except Nintendo.