XBOX 360 setup help followup

February 10, 2011 1:54 PM

I'm still trying to connect my upcoming XBOX 360 to my computer monitor. The monitor has only VGA and DVI-D inputs and no audio output, however, so I'm having issues tracking down what needs to be done. Currently I'm fairly sure I've got what I need for video, but I still need help figuring out how to connect audio.

From the last thread, I've settled on this HDMI to DVI-D cable. I still need help pinning down what I need to get to set up actual audio, however. What do I need?

Note: If it's impossible to use that HDMI to DVI-D cable and still get audio, I'm willing to take suggestions for however to use the proprietary VGA cable instead for audio. I would prefer the cable I've selected, however, as it's much cheaper than the VGA.

posted by flatluigi to Technology (14 answers total)

Either your pc or your sound system probably has an audio-in slot, and all you need is an adapter from the composite xbox audio cords to a pc audio cable. I can plug the adapter straight into my speakers or I can plug it into the audio-in on my box if I want better volume control by routing it through my pc. You would need to do the same thing if you got the proprietary vga cable as with a different cable, as it has the same audio outs as a regular cable, just a different video jack.
posted by drethelin at 1:58 PM on February 10, 2011

This is what I used with my 360 and what I'm currently using with my wii.
posted by drethelin at 2:01 PM on February 10, 2011

Yep, you just need one of these.
posted by Anatoly Pisarenko at 2:05 PM on February 10, 2011

I'm pretty sure this cable is what you need. It's VGA only, but that should work without any noticeable difference. Sadly, I can't find a DVI version.
posted by Willie0248 at 2:06 PM on February 10, 2011

Whoops, the link should be this one!
posted by Willie0248 at 2:07 PM on February 10, 2011

Response by poster: To make sure: if I buy this video cable and this audio converter & stick the video in my VGA slot and the cable in my PC's line-in, I should be fine?
posted by flatluigi at 2:15 PM on February 10, 2011

It's been a few years since I've used the Xbox 360 VGA cables, but back then the official Microsoft version was of MUCH higher quality than most off-brand versions. It's worth a few extra bucks to get the real thing.
posted by The Lamplighter at 2:28 PM on February 10, 2011

When I purchased the official MS cables, they also came with an audio adapter like the ones linked above.
posted by The Lamplighter at 2:30 PM on February 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

If you want to still use the DVI-D cable, you can pick up one of these to get some more audio options.

I did this with headphones for a while but it was kind of a weird kludge. Get a cable like this to go into the above linked audio adapter then get an adapter that looks like this (I found both at Radioshack for a couple bucks). You can then plug in your headphones. Note that you will have to control the volume via the xbox settings. You could also plug a pair of computer speakers in.

I'm not sure that the female to female 3.5mm adapter was meant for this (in fact I'm pretty sure it isn't) but I used it for a couple of months and didn't have any problems.
posted by crosbyh at 3:13 PM on February 10, 2011

Oh, if your PC has line in you can skip the female to female 3.5mm adapter and just plug the RCA to 3.5mm adapter right in.
posted by crosbyh at 3:17 PM on February 10, 2011

To make sure: if I buy this video cable and this audio converter & stick the video in my VGA slot and the cable in my PC's line-in, I should be fine?

I do exactly this, but with the official Microsoft cable. I am very happy with the result. It's been a while since I first set it up, but if I recall correctly, I had to do a bit of fiddling with the line in volume before it sounded ok (Windows PC).
posted by threetoed at 3:50 PM on February 10, 2011

Best answer: Follow the instructions here, you don't have to buy anything else for audio. (To get 2 rca audio out). Then use this cable to plug into your line in. You can also use the VGA cable you linked to, but it's better to just push a digital signal from your xbox into your monitor. Feel free to memail me for clarifications, I've got this setup working just fine at home. (Hacked XBOX cable for audio, dvi-hdmi cable for video)
posted by defcom1 at 4:00 PM on February 10, 2011

Be aware, depending on the details of how you set this up you could be introducing latency. It's very annoying when the audio is 100ms behind the video. If you plug the video directly into the monitor and the audio directly into your sound card and configure the PC to just play the sound straight through, it will probably be fine.
posted by Nelson at 5:10 PM on February 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

defcom1's solution appears to be the best, if you feel confident cutting the plastic in the cable. As you're not planning to use it for anything, even if you fuck it up and destroy the cable it isn't much of a loss.

Regarding latency, since your monitor is an LCD you'll definitely have some video lag regardless of how you set it up, but you can probably avoid audio lag by connecting the audio outs directly to the headset/speakers (and you wouldn't need to leave your PC on while playing).
posted by Bangaioh at 2:31 AM on February 11, 2011