360 to lcd monitor. . . sound??

[The Muffin Man]

Hey guys, i posted this in the tech section but thought i might get some more replies here. . .

im trying to hook up my 360 to my lcd monitor


im connecting my 360 to my 22" LCD monitor using a vga adaptor, the adaptor has a male rca connector for audio and i want to connect it to my 5.1ch pc speakers.

this is the cable:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....1265919 46321

i am to belive the following accesories are needed top connect it to my 5.1ch setup:

-audio spillter with male 3.5mm connector to female rca connector

-audio splitter that connects 2 female 3.5mm connectors to 1 male 3.5mm connector


oh and ill be using a vga switch so i can switch between pc and 360 easily, but i am unfamilair with how it works exactly??

connecting the video is easy

but the more i read the more confused i get about the sound aspect

i have 5.1ch speakers connected to my pc

my mobo has optical out but not optical in. . .

will buying an av switch be of any use?

or buying a video switch?

i want to be able to use my lcd monitor and speakers for pc work and 360 gaming without having to change cables so i take it the above to switches are neccesary?

any help would be awesome!

cheers,
Rhys

[Watcher]

I have my 360 connected to my 22" BenQ LCD and 5.1 set up by the following method and I don't know if you'd want to spend the extra cash, but I find it well worth it.

I bought a 3rd party VGA connector from JB for about $20-$30 and it pretty much looks the same as the official one. I think Joytech is the brand.

That has an optical connection in the head that goes into the back of your 360 and I just bought a 5m optical cable that goes along the wall and to my amp. The signal strength was fine and I'm happy with it.

Switching between monitor and PC is an issue through and I have a temporary fix for that. I tried 2 different VGA switch boxes and they lost way too much signal and the picture was horrible.
I went to Dick Smith instead and got a 1m VGA cable, which sits in my monitor connection and the other end sits on my pc tower next to my recliner (you could have it on your desk top or where it's easy to reach).
I then just reach over and stick either the PC or 360 connection into it and it works fine. Picture quality has dropped by the smallest amount, but the wife, kids and others say that they can't notice it.

Eventually, I want a new PC where I'll connect the PC via DVI and the 360 via VGA.

Oh, on your 360 settings, set your display to expanded too as you'll be blown away by the difference. Colours are richer and blacks are way deeper.

Good luck! :)

Edit - Doh! Just re-read that you have PC 5.1 speakers. Hmmm, an optical audio switch box/splitter is an option, but I don't know what the quality would be like.

[The Muffin Man]

thanks for the reply watcher, what type of switchboxes did you use? im pretty sure manual boxes would be less likely to show those problems.

the vga cable you got, was it a female vga to male\female vga splitter?

becuase the 360 vga connector has a male connection whereas the pc has a female, so unless im horribly wrong a simple extension cable wouldnt suffice??

Regarding sound, im talking about hooking it up to my PC 5.1ch setup which from what i can tell doesnt have an optical in, furtehrmore my mobo only has an optical out. . .

this is how im planning to do it but have no idea if it will work. . .

using the following accesories:

-audio splitter with male 3.5mm connector to female rca connector (for the purpose of this thread ill call this splitter 1)

it looks something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI....MEWA:IT&ih=007

-audio splitter that connects 2 female 3.5mm connectors to 1 male 3.5mm connector (splitter 2)

which looks like this: http://www.triplebit.com/images/Splitter-1.jpg

from what ive read i connect the 360 rca to splitter 1 then connect the male end of splitter 1 to one of the female ends of splitter 2, then my sub connection goes to the other female on splitter 2 and finally the male connection on splitter 2 goes in the back of my pc where my sub (which is now in splitter 1) would normally connect. . .wow thats a mouthfull, if anyone knows what im saying can you let me know if im going about this the right way??

how would you go about running pc via dvi and 360 via vga?? is as simple as plugging in both cables? my monitor is a chimei 22" 221D

[The Muffin Man]

i was thinking, would a cable such as this. . .

http://images.marketworks.com/fullView.asp?id=236879260&fc=0&img=http://images.auctionworks.com/hi/68/68411/op9913.3.jpg

simply plug into my mobo's optical out and then into the back of the 360 vga cables optical out? or is there more to it then that?

[Watcher]

Ah, o.k. Sorry about my confusion with the audio. You did explain it in your original post. :)

I'm totally lost when it comes to PC stuff and what their connections do, but I guess a splitter would work if you want to share your audio connection with the other one which won't be used at the same time. Hopefully someone who knows for sure can answer you better.

The switch boxes were manual ones where you connect it to the monitor and then the 2 devices to the box and just push a button to pick what signal you want. The picture degradation was absolutely pathetic and I gave up.
If someone knows of one that definitely works perfectly, I'd get it in a heart beat.

The VGA cable is a standard 1 m cable that has male into the monitor and female on the other end. The vga cable from the pc case and 360 are both male and just plug into the female of the 1m cable.

As I said before, I'm hopeless with computers, but from what I understand, you can connect your PC via DVI if your graphics card allows it and your 360 via the VGA connection. You then just push a button on the monitor to switch between the connections.
When I was researching all this for myself after I got my 360, I'm sure I saw that the 22" Chimei has an input select button to do the switching.

[The Muffin Man]

its days like these i wish all the old tech guys were still around,

so with the vga cable you bought, you plugged it into the monitor then the cable that comes with the monitor originally stays connected to your pc and you just change the pc vga cable and 360 vga cable over as required? i thought you mean there was no cable coming from the pc and to switch from pc to 360 i would need to get to the back of my pc each time.

yeah the ound issue is really hazy over the net, so many different opinions. . . it might be easier to simply buy a pair of 2.1ch and connect it via the 3.5mm input. . . argh!

[Watcher]

i was thinking, would a cable such as this. . .
http://images.marketworks.com/fullView.asp?id=236879260&fc=0&img=http://images.auctionworks.com/hi/68/68411/op9913.3.jpg
simply plug into my mobo's optical out and then into the back of the 360 vga cables optical out? or is there more to it then that?
Sorry, I must have been typing my last reply when you did this.
That's the kind of optical cable I use for my amp, but I'm sure you you need optical in on your PC for it to run the signal via your PC speakers.

[The Muffin Man]

you know what really sucks, about amonth ago i payed $1800 for my new pc system with an ip35 mobo ($175), naturally the ip35 PRO has both optical out and in and is only $30 more!

are there any pci cards out there that will give my pc optical in?

i just found this, it seems the same as my method except i add another connection before plugging into the mic, is doing this necessary for ym situation?

http://shaymus22.wordpress.com/2006/08/11/pipe-your-xbox360-audio-through-your-pc-speakers-in-10-steps/

[Watcher]

so with the vga cable you bought, you plugged it into the monitor then the cable that comes with the monitor originally stays connected to your pc and you just change the pc vga cable and 360 vga cable over as required? i thought you mean there was no cable coming from the pc and to switch from pc to 360 i would need to get to the back of my pc each time.

New 1m VGA cable connected to monitor and hanging free.
Original monitor VGA cable connected to pc case and hanging free.
360 VGA cable connected to 360 and hanging free.

Just connect either cable to the one hanging free from the monitor when you want to use it. :)

Yeah, bloody computers give me the shits as there is always something that needs to be upgraded or needed for future use.
You are about to lose me when you start talking about motherboards and stuff. Sorry. :D

EDIT again - Just had a look at that latest link and it looks like that may work, but is going to give you a stereo option and not real 5.1

I have to run in a minute, so hopefully someone can come in and give you a quick and easy solution pretty soon. :)

[The Muffin Man]

yeah i get what you mean now and that seems like a good alternative, i just didnt want to be going to the back of my pc every time i wanted to switch, ill grab one of the cables today. . .

yeah im not great with pc's either haha, but no one in the tech section wanted to help so i came here :)

i think ill just get one of those 3.5mm adaptors and try it out. . .there only like $5.

[Watcher]

I don't know what your set up is like, but with that 1m or longer VGA cable coming from the monitor and the length of the cables coming from your pc case and 360, you may be able to have the ends of all 3 sitting/hanging close to where you sit like I do and it's just a matter of reaching over to swap them. :)

Good luck! :)

[The Muffin Man]

yeah thats how im gonna do it, thanks heaps watcher, it saves me about $20 aswell.

so thats video solved. . .and i guess im gonna have to experiment with the sound.

[The Muffin Man]

hey watcher,

was just reading over your response regading PC via dvi. . .

i have a chimei 22" 221D widescreen monitor which has both vga and dvi output.

My graphics card is a radeon X1950 Pro 256mb pci express.

when accesing my monitors side buttons i can change the option of "input" from digital to analogue, does this mean all i have to do is plug the vga cable from my 360 to my monitors vga slot and the dvi cable from my pc to my monitors dvi slot and then i can just change the "input" (analogue for 360, digital for PC) through my monitor

any idea if this method will work with my setup?

[Watcher]

Yes, that's how I have understood it from my research in the past and is what I want to do when I eventually get a new computer.

I don't have a clue about motherboards, graphics cards etc, so you will need to find out if yours can output DVI.:)

Edit - Just did a Google search and it looks like the card you mentioned does DVI. Well, to me anyway.

[Leroy Peterson]

When my friend and i did it, his was hooked up through an optics cable :confused:

Was weird but it worked.

Sorry cant help you out :p

[The Muffin Man]

yeah, normal tv setups have an optical input, but most pc speakers dont. . .

[Leroy Peterson]

Mate of mine told me bout ChiMei releasing the 222H

http://www.myshopping.com.au/SP--187771_ChiMei_222H_22_widescreen_Monitor

Its now on my Wish List. I'll get me a PS3 if i have that screen, cause the tvs at home look trash when you plug a 360 into it. To afford it, ill have to sell my current screen.

So you think its worth gettin that screen, eventually gettin a PS3, and selling my 19" Wide ChiMei 2ms?

Wahts puts me off is the fact the monster will dominate my desk. Oh, and the fact itll cost me a truck load.