Xbox 360 Elite / Falcon

[AzBat]

I don't understand why the issue of needing a dongle for audio keeps coming up. 90% of HDMI capable TV's provide an optical and/or digital output to provide 5.1 from an HDMI source.

A lot of people like myself would rather just connect the audio directly to the receiver instead of adding a middle man. That way all my OAB are 2-channel output and my 360/DVD output is optical. Keeps me from having to keep changing my audio source on the receiver every time I change the input.

Tommy McClain

 

[Rockster]

Keeps me from having to keep changing my audio source on the receiver every time I change the input.

You're still changing it either way? Actually less if you have other HDMI devices connected to the TV. I guess to each his own.

 

[AzBat]

You're still changing it either way? Actually less if you have other HDMI devices connected to the TV. I guess to each his own.

Actually I don't have any HDMI devices, but if I had a HDMI-enabled 360 I would connect the optical out directly to the receiver like I'm doing now. My receiver remembers the last selected audio input for each video input. So that keeps me from having to change the audio inputs every time. Which is fine since I only have one optical input anyway.

Tommy McClain

 

[AzBat]

Joe, can't remember if you're an original Xbox owner or not, but Microsoft is now offering a free copy of Halo 3 standard edition to original Xbox owners who are also Xbox Live subscribers. Here's the details...

Current Paid Xbox LIVE Members on the original Xbox console (not Xbox 360), here's how to get your Halo 3 game:

* Buy an Xbox 360 console between November 21 and December 21, 2007.
* Convert your current paid Xbox LIVE account to an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription.
* Register here between November 21 and December 21, 2007 with promotional code XBX7777, with your new console serial number, and a valid mailing address.
* Look for your copy of Halo 3 in your mailbox!

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/h...ethalo.htm?WText.camp=Games&WText.campSrc=RSS

Thought it might be helpful.

Tommy McClain

 

[Barbarian]

I don't understand why the issue of needing a dongle for audio keeps coming up. 90% of HDMI capable TV's provide an optical and/or digital output to provide 5.1 from an HDMI source.

Actually my TV does have an optical out, BUT downmixes any DD5.1 to a simple stereo PCM. Very lame indeed, but that's one more reason one might need an optical out directly from the Xbox.

 

[valioso]

so all the ones that have the hdmi ports are the 65 chips?

 

[valioso]

whats the difference in the dvd drives and which one is recommended?

 

[DuckThor Evil]

90% of HDMI capable TV's provide an optical and/or digital output to provide 5.1 from an HDMI source.

Are you sure about that? It seems for example that my new Sony W3000 doesn't output 5.1 and I'm under the impression that it's not the only one.

 

[pipo]

so all the ones that have the hdmi ports are the 65 chips?

Nope: http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3152&p=1

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Yeah, actually at this time even with HDMI the percent of old chips is higher...

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Need a little help here... I've bought a generic HDMI cable, thinking that the official one at 4x the price is not quite justified. Turned out I was wrong - I can't plug in the HDMI cable and the AV connector at the same time, to get optical audio out of the system. I can't get it out of my TV either - 2-years old Samsung LCD - so now I can either have HDMI, or component + audio. Damn MS for this...

Now, it seems that both the Elites and the official HDMI cable have a short converter kind of thing to plug into the AV connector only to get audio out of it, but I can't seem to find it on any local console related store's websites. Is this thing available separately at all, or do you have to let MS rip you off to get the damn thing to work?

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

Need a little help here... I've bought a generic HDMI cable, thinking that the official one at 4x the price is not quite justified. Turned out I was wrong - I can't plug in the HDMI cable and the AV connector at the same time, to get optical audio out of the system. I can't get it out of my TV either - 2-years old Samsung LCD - so now I can either have HDMI, or component + audio. Damn MS for this...

Now, it seems that both the Elites and the official HDMI cable have a short converter kind of thing to plug into the AV connector only to get audio out of it, but I can't seem to find it on any local console related store's websites. Is this thing available separately at all, or do you have to let MS rip you off to get the damn thing to work?

Someone on NeoGAF took a dremel to the Component cable and shaved the plastic off the box, which let them both fit...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=8047983#post8047983

 

[AzBat]

Need a little help here... I've bought a generic HDMI cable, thinking that the official one at 4x the price is not quite justified. Turned out I was wrong - I can't plug in the HDMI cable and the AV connector at the same time, to get optical audio out of the system. I can't get it out of my TV either - 2-years old Samsung LCD - so now I can either have HDMI, or component + audio. Damn MS for this...

Now, it seems that both the Elites and the official HDMI cable have a short converter kind of thing to plug into the AV connector only to get audio out of it, but I can't seem to find it on any local console related store's websites. Is this thing available separately at all, or do you have to let MS rip you off to get the damn thing to work?

This was what we've been talking about earlier in the thread.

You'll need to hack your current cable, find the dongle or buy Microsoft's $50 retail package that includes a HDMI cable and the dongle.

Here's a few links with how-to's on how to hack your existing cables:

http://www.chadledford.com/?p=50

http://www.forgotten-gamer.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=103280&st=0&p=1868460&#entry1868460

Or go to eBay and buy the dongle. Hard to find by itself though:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Xbox-360-HDMI-C...yZ122517QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Good luck!

Tommy McClain

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Heh, thanks for the tip. Never thought I'd mod my X360 Works well, until I'll get a new TV and then I'll pay attention to have an optical out too.

 

[J_Saint]

I'm holding out for a Falcon Elite as well. It seems like the easiest way to tell if a system is a Falcon is to check the wattage on box sticker. Falcons will be 175W while older systems are 203W.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Why oh why does this have to come up just 1 week after I've got myself a HDMI Zephyr?

 

[infinity4]

Just buy another X360 in a year and two and you will have 65nm GPU as well, unlike those buying it now.

 

[rekator]

Just buy another X360 in a year and two and you will have 65nm GPU as well, unlike those buying it now.

And maybe a 45nm CPU, but if you look to the AMD GPU it's more a 55 nm GPU in one or two years .

 

[Johnny Awesome]

I'm planning on getting a second X360 with my new TV next Fall. I'll probably get an Elite.

 

[RancidLunchmeat]

I'll probably get an Elite.

Why?