Xbox 360 allows two types of audio connections: analog and digital.Both analog and digital audio connections can give you surround sound or stereo sound, depending on the sound system that you use with your Xbox 360 console. Remember, your Xbox 360 audio setup applies to both games and DVD videos.
The Xbox 360 audio connection that you should use depends on the sound system that you connect to your Xbox 360 console:
- Digital audio is the best option if you have both of the following:
• A sound system with a Toslink digital audio input
• A Toslink audio cable (which you can get from most stores that sell Toslink-equipped sound systems)
- Toslink is the optical version of SPDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format) digital audio.
- Analog audio is used for most TVs and inexpensive audio systems.
Digital Xbox 360 audio
You make an Xbox 360 digital audio connection by using an optical cable (called a Toslink). To connect your Xbox 360 to your stereo using a digital cable, follow these steps:
1. Make sure that you're using one of the following Xbox 360 AV cables that connects digital audio:
• Component HD cable.
• Advanced Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs (SCART) cable (United Kingdom).
• VGA cable.
• S-Video cable.
• S-Video is the only standard TV cable that works with digital audio.
2. Connect a Toslink cable to the connecting plug of your AV cable.
Turn the stereo volume down before you connect the cable.
3. Plug the Toslink cable into your receiver.
The manufacturer sometimes covers this input to prevent dust from damaging the input. Check your input; it may be covered by either of the following:
• A plastic shutter that moves automatically when you plug the connector in
• A small square-shaped plug in the input
• If the input has a plug, pull it out now.
4. Switch your receiver to the digital audio source.
5. Fire up the Xbox 360 and pick the appropriate digital output type in the System blade.
Analog Xbox 360 audio
You make the analog audio connection with a pair of RCA jacks. The two analog audio connections are usually two different colors:
- Red for the right channel
- White for the left channel
This has been the standard connection method since before the original Atari game console was released.
Don't have an optical input? Use analog audio and hook up with the RCA cables.
If you can't use an optical input, you have two ways to make an analogaudio connection from your Xbox 360:
- Directly to the audio system (receiver):
- Connecting directly to the stereo system may improve sound quality a bit. Analog audio usually sounds better when you reduce the number of connections between the signal's source and its destination.
- Through the TV's audio input and output to the audio system:
- Extra connections may hurt the sound quality a little. Your TV set can automatically send the matching audio to your sound system when you change video sources (such as satellite boxes and VCRs).
- Many TVs that have audio outputs have two options:
• Variable output: Adjusts its output volume based on the volume setting on the TV (and the TV remote control)
• Fixed output (sometimes called "audio out" or "line out"): Volume is not adjustable with the TV remote control
Analog output
If you use analog Xbox 360 audio output, you can choose between two types of output:
- Mono (single-speaker sound)
- Dolby Pro Logic II, which works with most analog sound systems:
• Standard stereo TV sound systems
• Two-speaker stereo sound systems
• Simulatedsurround sound systems (such as Dolby Virtual Surround and SRS TruSurround)
• Dolby Pro Logic surround sound
• Dolby Pro Logic II 5.1 surround sound
• ".1"surround sound systems, like Dolby Pro Logic II, can use a subwoofer.
Mono output
Mono puts all the game sounds through bothXbox 360 analog audio jacks (red and white).
Mono sound technology
When you use mono, it doesn't matter which Xbox 360 audio jack you connect to your sound system. If your TV sound system only has oneaudio jack (usually white), you may find that this the best connection.
If you use mono sound with a multispeaker sound system (like a stereo TV or a surround sound audio system), you can hear sound from all the speakers, but you can't tell the directionof the sound:
- If you're connected to a stereoaudio system, Xbox 360 mono audio doesn't tell you whether sounds are on your left or right.
- If you're connected to a surround soundaudio system, Xbox 360 mono audio doesn't tell you whether:
• Sounds are behind or in front of you
• Sounds are on your left or right
Mono sound setup
If you need to use mono sound with your Xbox 360, follow these steps:
1. Open the System blade of the Xbox 360 Dashboard.
2. Select Console Settings and press the A button.
3. Pick the Audio option.
4. Pick the Analog Output option.
Under Analog Output, you have two choices (as you can see in Figure 1):
• Mono
• Dolby Pro Logic II
Figure 1: You have only two options for analog output, Mono or Dolby Pro Logic II.
5. Select Mono and press the A button.
Dolby Pro Logic II output
You may find Dolby Pro Logic II the best analog audio setting if your sound system has:
- More than one analog audio input channel.
- You usually have a red input jack and a whiteinput jack.
- More than one speaker.