Xbox 360 and dell 2405

dannyjo22 · 1 Feb 2006 at 21:27

I'm teetering on the verge of buying a 360, only thing holding me back is i'm going to use it with my Dell 2405 for now. I have a cheap 5.1 set up a Philips MMS260 5.1 PC Speakers. These have no input or amp to connect the 360 too. They are connected directly to my pc sound card.

How would I go about getting sound from the xbox? I'd be happy just getting 2 speaker sound. Can I just unplug the jack to the sound card and put it in the 360 or buy a splitter?

Any help would be great, must be some other 360/2405 users here?

oneilldo · 1 Feb 2006 at 21:40

you could feed your xbox froma splitter->jack adaptor into you mic input on sound card then play the sound through your comp. I did this but sound wasn't really that good and it was annoying as my pc had to be on at the same time. I ended up nicking the stereo from downstairs as a temp solution until I get a HD-TV and speaker set up

Boogle · 1 Feb 2006 at 21:40

You hook up the Xbox audio into the Line-In on your sound card (of course the PC will have to be on too). Alternatively you can get an adapter (you'll have to do this anyway with the first method) and connect the Xbox directly to the speakers.

I've heard many people mentioning component on the 2405 with the Xbox looks very good. High res too, so you can display a genuine 1080i image (with a little upscaling).

dannyjo22 · 1 Feb 2006 at 21:45

Boogle said:
Alternatively you can get an adapter (you'll have to do this anyway with the first method) and connect the Xbox directly to the speakers.

Whats the adapter I would need? With that method, I wouldnt need the pc on? If I was to buy a better 5.1 system what inputs would i need to get over the problem?

BurningHorizons · 1 Feb 2006 at 22:04

I have the 2405 and bought the Creative MegaWorks 250D THX® 2.1 Speakers - Retail (SP-013-CL).
They have 3 inputs, 2 analogue and 1 digital.
Sound quality is superb.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Creative_2_1_Systems.html
Before these I linked through an amp, but moved house and space became an issue.

dannyjo22 · 1 Feb 2006 at 22:19

So I would need a system with a digital input to connect the xbox too? Was hoping for a cheap work round with my current set up but it looks like I need a new speaker set up.

BurningHorizons · 1 Feb 2006 at 22:28

No it doesn't need digital.
Analogue is just fine.

Boogle · 2 Feb 2006 at 08:30

dannyjo22 said:
So I would need a system with a digital input to connect the xbox too? Was hoping for a cheap work round with my current set up but it looks like I need a new speaker set up.

If you get a double-female 3.5mm headphone adapter, as well as a dual phono->3.5mm headphone adapter you can connect the Xbox directly to the speakers. However, you will only have 2 channels, not 5.1. Total cost for the adapters shouldn't exceed £10. This way you don't need the PC on.

geordie10 · 2 Feb 2006 at 11:19

hi.
i got a switch box from ******s and now have my xbox360 and pc both using my sony 19inch monitor,sound comes through monitor speakers.
you need to buy switchbox and a few extra cables.
picture from xbox360 is great.
cheers ian.

0gami · 2 Feb 2006 at 11:23

[Click]

Hope that helps

SIAT · 2 Feb 2006 at 12:07

0gami said:
[Click]

Hope that helps

Thats exactly what I did.

Also if you don't want to use your pc speakers you could get a dell sound bar that hangs of the tft and run your xbox through that. Thats what I've done.

-|ScottFree|- · 2 Feb 2006 at 13:26

I hooked mine up to my Dell 2405 yesterday and was playing PGR @ 1080i ... sweeet!! looks incredible..

I used the RGB for the Dell and the RWY into the scart and into my Sky box scart 2... I have my Sky Scart 1 running into my 5.1 speakers!!!

Turn Sky off... sound from the Xbox Turn Sky on.. Sound from Sky!!

Bigpops · 2 Feb 2006 at 15:56

-|ScottFree|- said:
I hooked mine up to my Dell 2405 yesterday and was playing PGR @ 1080i ... sweeet!! looks incredible..

Really? PGR3 looks hideous on mine! The only game i have that looks any good on it is DoA4.

dannyjo22 · 2 Feb 2006 at 21:13

Thanks a lot guys for the help. I will get the splitter when I get my 360

Rich · 2 Feb 2006 at 22:39

Bigpops said:
Really? PGR3 looks hideous on mine! The only game i have that looks any good on it is DoA4.

Looks identical to the Samsung Displays in shops on mine. PGR3 seems to have some Jaggies regardless of the screen.

Try pressing your menu button on the 2405 and seeing if it says 1080i 60hz. A friend of mine says his much older 2405 says 720p no matter what he does. If yours was doing this it would look pants.

Also make sure you are using the components as i **THINK** the VGA cable is limited to some crappy low rez

As for the sound set up, mine is almost the same as above, only with a headphone Amp so i can change the volume

NokkonWud · 2 Feb 2006 at 23:19

Rich said:
Try pressing your menu button on the 2405 and seeing if it says 1080i 60hz. A friend of mine says his much older 2405 says 720p no matter what he does. If yours was doing this it would look pants.

It wouldn't look pants, HD on Xbox360 runs at 720p by default, it upscales to 1080i.

Mr Gimp · 2 Feb 2006 at 23:53

I'm running mine through the 2405 and using the optical out from the HD lead and connecting to my Logitech Z 5500s and on occasion my new Creative 5:1 headphones. Headphones make Live a pain in the ass though

Wyrdo · 3 Feb 2006 at 00:11

Rich said:
Looks identical to the Samsung Displays in shops on mine. PGR3 seems to have some Jaggies regardless of the screen.

Try pressing your menu button on the 2405 and seeing if it says 1080i 60hz. A friend of mine says his much older 2405 says 720p no matter what he does. If yours was doing this it would look pants.

Also make sure you are using the components as i **THINK** the VGA cable is limited to some crappy low rez

As for the sound set up, mine is almost the same as above, only with a headphone Amp so i can change the volume

He must be doing something wrong or his xbox has never connected to Live to get the res update.

I have component and VGA cables and use the VGA on my 2405, I prefer the sharper picture, apart from that there is no difference really. Component gives slightly more vibrant colours where the VGA cable seems to give a sharper picture.

720P is actually better quality than 1080i as 720P is progressive whereas 1080i is interlaced.

Flanno · 3 Feb 2006 at 01:32

Personally I prefer 1080i, as I find at 1:1 there is only a tiny bit of stretching going on as the native res is 1920x1200. Also, I don't see any difference in pic quality between 720p and 1080i anyway. Xbox mag commented last month that the 2405 looks superb hooked up via component at 1080i.

Rich · 3 Feb 2006 at 10:24

wyrdo said:
He must be doing something wrong or his xbox has never connected to Live to get the res update.

I have component and VGA cables and use the VGA on my 2405, I prefer the sharper picture, apart from that there is no difference really. Component gives slightly more vibrant colours where the VGA cable seems to give a sharper picture.

720P is actually better quality than 1080i as 720P is progressive whereas 1080i is interlaced.

How is a 720p res going to be better on a native resolution of 1920x1200 panel? It just isnt is the answer. Yes the Xbox upscales, but his panel wasnt accepting the 1080i input and running 720 instead. Then the panel will go ahead and stretch that resolution and you have your answer for why it looks so bad.
THe 720p games look great on my 2405 too for the record, but mine says 1080i when i check the menu's, not 720.

As for the XBox live resolution update, if you can send me more information i will check with him and see if thats his problem (he could select 1080i from the menu in the dashboard).

Cheers.