Xbox Audio Connection (1 Viewer)

[Chris Reehl]

I'm a bit of a newbie to HT, and I am going to piece together a small system soon. I just have a quick question: How does the Xbox high def audio pack connect to a receiver using an optical digital connection? Does it use a standard toslink-to-toslink connection?

thanks
Chris Reehl

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

Yes, standard optical connection from the Xbox HD pack to the optical input of a receiver or preamp. If you ever find yourself in a position where you can only use a coaxial digital cable there are optical-to-coax converters readily available (can find in any music store that carries recording gear).

 

[Marc Bax]

There is a better way to go though, the Monster Cable Component (Gamelink 400 X), S-Video (Gamelink 300 X), and AV (Gamelink 200 X) cables all have a small jacks on them to connect a special Monster optical cable the Lightwave 100 X (one end is a small headphone like jack that plugs into the base of the video cable and the other is Toslink) use these for the best in video and audio that you'll get out of the Xbox. I use the Gamelink 400 X, and Lightwave 100 X and they're some of the best cables I've ever owned. These cables will run you more then the standard Microsoft made Xbox advanced av, and HD packs but they work much better because, well here let these guys explain it..

"The Xbox has a single A/V port around back and a standard A/V cable ships with the unit. Microsoft's solution for more sophisticated configurations involves purchasing additional breakout boxes. About the size of a pack of smokes, these boxes come in two flavors: Advanced and HD. While these boxes offer users a good bit of flexibility, Monster saw it differently. "We felt that the current designs available left lots of room for improvement. The biggest problem was the big black box and the potential for all types of noise to get in your system," said Rusty Everett, who heads up X Link product development. And it's true: The A/V Packs are not shielded, which leaves them open to interference. Another problem with the Packs is that they are just that, Packs. "If you buy the box you still have to buy all the cable to go from the box to the TV and audio system and that is not very consumer friendly. Not to mention that you have all these extra connections that just take away more of the sound and picture."...

There that saved me some typing, for that whole article go here.

 

[Chris Reehl]

Marc,

I already have a 400X, so adding the 100X would make more sense. How exatly does that plug in to the 400X?

thanks

 

[Marc Bax]

The Lightwave 100 X is a regular looking high grade Toslink to Toslink cable but it comes with an adapter that fits on one end and plugs into that tiny hole at the base of the 400 X (where it plugs into the Xbox, check you'll see a small round jack). Here's a picture of the cord and adapter, you might want to search for a lower price but I think it's the same everywhere ($35).

 

[Chris Reehl]

Thanks, Marc, you've made it much clearer!