Connecting Sound VIA Optical Cable


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I have finally fixed my speaker setup and sound is coming out of all 7 speakers but i want to connect all my speakers to the XBOX360. I currently have the offical VGA cable which has 2 phono connections which i have connected to my volume control dongle which supports headphones and a line in but i only get sound from the left and right front speakers.

I have a Creative control bay on the front of my computer which has a optical cable input/out which from what i understand will support sound and put it to all the speakers that currently work on my PC.

This is what i have. Will i be able to get sound if i connect a optical cable from the XBOX360 to this front bay?

Thanks! :)

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Edited by PiracyX
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take your optical cable from your 360 and put it in "optical in"...Then open up your Creative Audio Console, and click on SPDIF I/O Tab, set SPDIF Input Settings to "SPDIF Passthrough"

Then enjoy :D

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take your optical cable from your 360 and put it in "optical in"...Then open up your Creative Audio Console, and click on SPDIF I/O Tab, set SPDIF Input Settings to "SPDIF Passthrough"

Then enjoy :D

I have my original Xbox on my X-Fi, place them in the Read and White ports, and in the volume control make sure you unmute it. You must have mediasource installed for the bay to work if you haven't :).

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lol, use an optical cable...why would you EVER want to game in 2.1 stereo? Even the original xbox has optical/5.1

P-X: btw, the official VGA cable has a spot for the optical cable, just like the cables that come with the system

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Thank you for that :) Many thanks. I will try looking around for a Optical cable that is cheap. I saw one at PCWorld (belkin i think) ?14.99!! and it was only 1.5m. No way am i paying that amount. I seen one at amazon marketplace for ?2.45 1.5m says its for XBOX (1) but that will work right? or do i need to get a XBOX360 version?

Meshuggah : You mean SPDIF bypass, is that the one you was on about?

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Thank you for that :) Many thanks. I will try looking around for a Optical cable that is cheap. I saw one at PCWorld (belkin i think) ?14.99!! and it was only 1.5m. No way am i paying that amount. I seen one at amazon marketplace for ?2.45 1.5m says its for XBOX (1) but that will work right? or do i need to get a XBOX360 version?

Meshuggah : You mean SPDIF bypass, is that the one you was on about?

Yes, SPDIF Bypass is the setting to use. Also, any optical cable will work. Some are pricey, but honestly, even the cheapest of cables will work. If you have a radio shack or comparible, that would be the place to buy one. Thing to remember is, Optical cables are basically a small piece of glass. The difference between low quality and higher quality optical cables are the protection around the cable. I don't think there is any difference in the glass itself, but just the casing. Just remember though, if you buy a cheaper cable with little to no reinforcement, whatever you do, DO NOT BEND THE CABLE EXCESSIVELY! If you do, you will pretty much break the glass inside and ruin the cable completely.

Then ya by all means use Optical. Let us know how you get on, remember to unmute it in volume control and make sure mediasource is installed.

You don't have to unmute it on volume control, as SPDIF Bypass mutes every sound on your PC and only allows what is going from the SPDIF Input to play through, otherwise you will experience clipping. And you don't need Mediasource, as I am currently on vista and all there is are Creative Beta Drivers that come with the audio Console. All you really need is the drivers and the Audio Console and you are good to go. Optical-in is completely different from the analog inputs.

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Ok thanks for that. I have noted that down. I am just looking at some of the ones on Amazon UK. You are right, some are cheap, other are expensive but i think i will settle for one that is reasonably priced. I will look at some tonight online but won't have any chance getting it before christmas if of order (maybe not even until new year) Im not in a hurry for it just want to test it out now! Thanks again for the quick replies :)

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I have looked on Maplins website and they have a 3 Metre optical cable for ?12.99 which is fairly reasonable i suppose and i may aswell just go tomorrow and collect that at my local store. I will post back in the morning on my results.

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You don't have to unmute it on volume control, as SPDIF Bypass mutes every sound on your PC and only allows what is going from the SPDIF Input to play through, otherwise you will experience clipping. And you don't need Mediasource, as I am currently on vista and all there is are Creative Beta Drivers that come with the audio Console. All you really need is the drivers and the Audio Console and you are good to go. Optical-in is completely different from the analog inputs.

Sorry, you need mediasource to use the remote. As for not unmuting, I did and I have my Xbox and PC so if I get a message on my PC I know and I don't get "clipping".

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Sorry, you need mediasource to use the remote. As for not unmuting, I did and I have my Xbox and PC so if I get a message on my PC I know and I don't get "clipping".

Yes i know about installing MediaSource to get the included remote working but i havent bothered using it really since i have my logitech one which is far better that came with my keyboard. I will take note of what you said about the sound being muted during installation when i get it tomorrow at maplins.

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DGX: You aren't playing in true 5.1. You source is stereo, and is then being converted to 5.1 by creative. To have proper/true 5.1, where every channel is actually coming in, you have to use a digital cable. You are using analog, which is why you won't get clipping. Trust me, real 5.1 kills that stereo -> 5.1 thing you are doing right now. You're basically using Pro Logic 1.0, lol.

And I don't use my remote, even in XP, I couldn't get it to work, but it's not bother to me.

P-X: he is wrong, his setup is not what you are doing, as he is using the Red/White stereo ANALOG cables. You will be using SPDIF/Digital, which cannot be properly muted. If both your PC sound and 360 sound are being use at the same time, you will not have true dolby digital 5.1, it will be converted first. The only way to have true 5.1, is using SPDIF Passthrough, which gets rid of your entire PC sound and only uses the digital connections.

Trust me, I've been messing with and using this setup for a year now.

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DGX: You aren't playing in true 5.1. You source is stereo, and is then being converted to 5.1 by creative. To have proper/true 5.1, where every channel is actually coming in, you have to use a digital cable. You are using analog, which is why you won't get clipping. Trust me, real 5.1 kills that stereo -> 5.1 thing you are doing right now. You're basically using Pro Logic 1.0, lol.

And I don't use my remote, even in XP, I couldn't get it to work, but it's not bother to me.

P-X: he is wrong, his setup is not what you are doing, as he is using the Red/White stereo ANALOG cables. You will be using SPDIF/Digital, which cannot be properly muted. If both your PC sound and 360 sound are being use at the same time, you will not have true dolby digital 5.1, it will be converted first. The only way to have true 5.1, is using SPDIF Passthrough, which gets rid of your entire PC sound and only uses the digital connections.

Trust me, I've been messing with and using this setup for a year now.

I totally trust you on this as you seem to know your stuff :) Just a quick question, i currently have all 7 speakers connected correctly and they work fine on my PC but will the XBOX360 use all 7 speakers the same way? I like the sound already with 2 speakers but im sure i will be blown away once i hook it up digital.

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PX: To be perfectly honest, I am not exactly sure. All games on 360 are DD5.1, not 7.1, but I believe in 7.1 the only difference is you have two extra speakers in the back, for a center image. I'd venture to say that you will have 5.1, and the back speakers will be simulated. So you won't have proper 7.1, but I really doubt you will notice. You will still enjoy all the ambient noises of 5.1. I'm pretty sure the speakers will work (simulated) but if they don't turn on, I will say this. 5.1 gaming is awesome! :D

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PX: To be perfectly honest, I am not exactly sure. All games on 360 are DD5.1, not 7.1, but I believe in 7.1 the only difference is you have two extra speakers in the back, for a center image. I'd venture to say that you will have 5.1, and the back speakers will be simulated. So you won't have proper 7.1, but I really doubt you will notice. You will still enjoy all the ambient noises of 5.1. I'm pretty sure the speakers will work (simulated) but if they don't turn on, I will say this. 5.1 gaming is awesome! :D

Thanks for that DarkGashX :) always nice to help :yes:

I think you are right there. I think most of my music and films that i have are actually 5.1 and are simulated like you said so im sure they will output on all speakers. Id rather the sound be simluated than no working on 2 speakers which would be annoying. You are damn right i will enjoy the sound :) I love my PC system but 2.1 on XBOX360 just doesnt cut it when im used to 7.1 most of the time :rofl:

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if you go optical make sure you have a fast PC, I read somewhere that the decoding is done by the cpu and not by the sound card, there could be some lag between the audio and the image.

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if you go optical make sure you have a fast PC, I read somewhere that the decoding is done by the cpu and not by the sound card, there could be some lag between the audio and the image.

Is this true? Im pretty sure my PC is still classed as 'Fast' :laugh: I know its not the newest thing out but i find its perfect for what i do with it everyday so im sure it will be ok. Going off shortly to get the cable.

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Ok i got he cable but i found that it doesnt work at all :( Maybe i'm doing something wrong. I connected the cable from the XBOX360 VGA cable and then to the front panel of my X-FI which i put in the 'In' then i slected 'SPDIF bypass' and left it at 48Khz and.....nothing. Im still getting sound from the PC but no sound from the XBOX360 so unless that it could be the drivers i have installed. I am going to try reinstalling my X-FI drivers to see if that is the problem.

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This is what i have done in the settings. I sure i am mising something.

Note. I tried to SPDIF on my nForce4 Mobo and it still doesnt work. I selected the volume controls on the NVMixer and it still doesnt work. What the hell is going on. Is the cable broken or something? It is beaming a red light on the side where i am connecting it to the PC so im sure its not broken. :(

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Ok i think i know what is my problem

After reading this thread which was started my lunamonkey it may turns out that i am doing it all wrong after all.

I connect the optical cable in the 'In' on the optical and i get a red light from the 'Out' which means i would need another one to connect to my speakers? I dont have any SPDIF connection on my speakers, just phonos and the whole point of this was to get audio from the cable into the pc and use the speakers but judging from what i read i would need 'something else' so techincally the cable was a waste of time.

EDIT! Ok i have sound when i select 'Dolby Digital 5.1' from the XBOX360 and using the 'Dolby Digital/DTS SPDIF-In decode' but all i get is 2.1 which is the same as i got before through the white and red phono cables on the VGA cable. At least i am making a start but i think this is all i am going to be left with which in that case ill take the cable back unlesss i can get it working.

Edited by PiracyX
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Whats interesting is that from both Windows Control Panel and the Creative Console Launher the SPDIF in the mixer is muted just like i was said before but i cannot get audio working at all but using the 'bypass' only the 'SPDIF decode option' Music plays ok on 2 speakers but playing DOA4 sound was only coming from the centre speaker. This is totally weird. If anyone else can help me (Meshuggah :)) i would be very thankful.

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After thinking about it, you may need two cables (I do). I KNOW there is a way to do it with only one cable, but I don't have the time to google the solution. Keep trying, maybe I can help more tomorrow :D

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After thinking about it, you may need two cables (I do). I KNOW there is a way to do it with only one cable, but I don't have the time to google the solution. Keep trying, maybe I can help more tomorrow :D

What do you mean i need two cables? If i connect the optical cable in the 'Out' where will the end bit go? My sub box doesnt have any optical input which would mean i need an extenal amp or something to get it working.

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