Xbox 360 And Optical Audio

Darkwave · 1 Nov 2007 at 21:33

Hey guys,

This probably actually belongs more in sound city as it relates to my TV and PC as well as my Xbox 360, moreso in fact, but please don't move it as I'm sure most of the guys in here know exactly what I want to know.

Now that's out of the way, it's a pretty simple question really but I just wanted to make sure before I get ripped off for the prices these optical cables cost everywhere: If I connect the optical out on my HDTV to the optical in on my computer, will the audio from my Xbox 360 (connected to the HDTV via HDMI) still be carried through the HDTV and thus over the optical to my PC speakers, or will I only get sound for the HDTV?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Sincerely yours,
Ulfhedjinn.

ScoobyDoo · 1 Nov 2007 at 22:38

You need to connect the optical out from your 360 to the optical in on your PC to get sound through the pc speakers. Im not sure what hdmi carries, if it carries optical sound then optical output from your tv will be fine, it will be a straight through connection.
I only use component on my 360 and have a optical cable from the 360 connecting to my AMP.

The optical cables are only a couple of £ of the 'bay'.
Doesnt matter which ones you get, the cheaper the better, the quality is the same.

ArchAnGeL · 1 Nov 2007 at 22:49

if you connect to optical in on the pc and via hdmi on the tv you will get sound from both

SiD the Turtle · 1 Nov 2007 at 23:07

Er not sure. Surely it would have to be passed back out of the PC to the speakers?

Can you not connect the optical directly to the speakers/amp (this is how I have it set up).

Darkwave · 2 Nov 2007 at 00:00

ArchAnGeL said:
if you connect to optical in on the pc and via hdmi on the tv you will get sound from both

That's what I was hoping to hear.

SiD the Turtle said:
Er not sure. Surely it would have to be passed back out of the PC to the speakers?

Aye my X-Fi can utilise the optical in on my motherboard, so it'd be able to transfer the audio over to that and then to my speakers as far as I am aware. At least I hope so lol, or I'll be using onboard audio. :eek:

Pretty sure it can do it though, the sound card has loads of options for S/PDIF etc.

SiD the Turtle said:
Can you not connect the optical directly to the speakers/amp (this is how I have it set up).

I don't have an optical connector on my speakers I'm afraid, but I'm going to be buying some new ones sooner or later. All I have available to me in terms of connections and stuff is: -

Optical out connector on Xbox 360 (currently using HDMI to HDTV),
Optical out connector on the HDTV (not in use),
Optical in and optical out connectors on my Abit IP35 Pro mobo (neither in use).
Multiple 3.5mm jacks on sound card for speakers (in use),
Bunch of those phono connectors or whatever they're called on the subwoofer (in use).

I could connect the Xbox 360 optical out directly to the optical in on the back of the PC and have it through the speakers, I was just wondering if it was possible to have the TV as a go-between of sorts so that I could use my PC speakers for TV audio as well as Xbox 360 audio.

If it's not then I suppose I'd have to do with the 360 hooked up to it on its own as TV isn't a priority, it'd sure be nice though as the speakers on the Bordeaux 32" aren't really the best (though most TVs have crap sound.)

I think the only answer really is to get an optical cable and try both ways then? What do you guys think?