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Xbox 360 HDMI+Audio Output

After purchasing my new HDMI-equipped Xbox 360, I decided to hook the console up to my LCD computer monitor to check out the video quality the system can produce. As I wrote about earlier, Best Buy pestered me throughout my visit with offers of pricey cables, including a $40 HDMI to DVI adapter, an $80 HDMI cable, and more. Not wanting to pay those ridiculously marked-up prices, I found a much cheaper solution.

Getting high quality video out of the Xbox 360 is quite easy with the help of a $15 (shipped) HDMI to DVI cable from NewEgg. Connecting the console and the display is a snap, and the video settings are easily adjusted to match the native resolution of the LCD panel.

Audio, on the other hand, is another matter. The placement of the HDMI port on the Xbox 360 is quite poor. It resides directly below the standard A/V output, and the component+composite cable that ships with the premium console is too bulky to plug in above the HDMI cable. It’s only possible to plug in one at a time, as one connector blocks the other. Frustrated, I turned to Google to see if anyone else had run into this design oversight. As it turns out, the Xbox 360 Elite package comes with an HDMI cable and an audio adapter cable with a much thinner plug. Unfortunately, the audio adapter cable is not available as a separate purchase, and can only be bought from Microsoft as a $50 HDMI+audio adapter cable kit (or on eBay for $30 and higher). Clearly a better answer was needed.

I took a trip to my local GameStop store to see what kind of cabling they had in stock, and I managed to score quite a deal that easily solved my audio problem. A standard composite+stereo audio cable, presumably from a now-discontinued Xbox 360 Core package, was available for $5, and it had a thin plug attached.

Using the HDMI to DVI cable and the regular video/audio cable, I can get crystal clear video and stereo audio out of the Xbox 360 for a combined total of $20, which trumps Microsoft’s kit by a great margin. After digging up some additional stereo adapters of my own, I now have a pair of headphones connected, ready to play Halo 3 in crisp 1280×1024 video without waking the neighbors.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 16th, 2007 at 7:27 pm and is filed under Xbox. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Comments

  1. You just saved me $50. Thank you so much for posting this.

    BTW, monoprice.com has really cheap HDMI -> DVI cables, like $6 for a 15 footer. peace

  2. If you have a little tech know how you can set up a 360 to VGA adapter for under 15 dollars. In your case even less since you got the core units cable for 5 bucks.

    You just need to do some soldering and yuo can fit the entire unit inside the endpiece that plugs into the back of the 360.

    But what i guessing here is that you actually can use both outputs on the 360 at the same time? To get audio from one and video from the HDMI port?

  3. Just wondering, did your gamestop have more than one of these cables? I am currently in the same boat, I’m using my 22″ Westinghouse with an HDMI -> DVI cable (which ran me only $6) but I need audio! I haven’t checked my Gamestop, but I will do so soon to see if they have them. Send me an email if your gamestop had more than one, maybe I can work something out to buy one off of you.

  4. i was able to fit my vga output and hdmi to dvi in at the same time, using the vga for audio. You can get those pretty cheap.

  5. I’m in the exact same position. The DVI to HDMI is not works great, the video is clear and awesome. However I cant get audio! Can you tell us what brand your cables are from gamestop? maybe we can buy it through another source. Were these Microsoft’s brand? If so, do you have a picture of how this looks like? Great article btw.

  6. Thanks for the writeup. It helped me to think I was not the only crazy one trying to do something like this.
    The way solved, was to pop the platic shell case of the component cable that came wth the xbox 360. It is glued togther, but wth a small flat screw driver it comes apart. This gave enough room to fit the hdmi with the component. Plus this way I also have the option for the fiber optic (digital) out in the future as well. Also, this didn’t cost anything.

  7. Well, I gave in and bought Microsoft’s cable (link below).

    http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=802758

    This solved the problem but costed me $50, I’m furious in a way however playing Halo 3 in HD makes it all better. The wire that I bought above comes in two sets, an HDMI wire and a Audio wire that connects to the regular xbox port. They made it thin enough to fit both wires.

  8. i just bought a third part video cable to try and do this. HDMI video output works great. When I try to plug the new AV cable in (only the sound plugs are plugged in) i lose video. What gives?

  9. @Zack: The third party cable probably bridges the pins letting the Xbox know the type of cable connected. It could be confusing the console. You might be able to crack open the connection and desolder everything but the audio pins — pinouts can be found all over the place on the net.

  10. Anybody try HDMI from xbox to HDMI in on a surround-sound reciever, then HDMI out from the reciever to DVI on a computer monitor? Seems like that setup should get you the best of everything. I ask because I have the receiver but no HDTV monitor, just a sweet 22″ widescreen for my PC.

    Thanks!

  11. @dp: That method should work if the receiver passes the video through. I’ve never worked with a HDMI-capable receiver, but I would imagine it would do this for compatibility’s sake. It may well be documented in the manual, too.

  12. You don’t need to buy a new cable that is a waste of money.

    Just use a screwdriver and pop the lower plastic casing off of the connector on the cable that comes with xbox 360 pro and it will fit perfectly with hdmi plugged in at the same time.

    when you pop off the plastic you will see that innards of the cable are still protected by an aluminum enclosure, so you are not damaging the cable or exposing it by poping off the bottom half of the plastic enclosure.

  13. Xbox 360 Premium - HDMI Cable / Digital Optical Adapter Hack

    You will see pictures on the work around here on this site. Much easier than buying all the cables and you get the best of both worlds, Digital Surround sound 5.1 and 1080p for your TV!

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

    I sure was relieved not to pay $50.00 bucks for the extra cable!

  14. Thanks Max, popped the casing works beautifully, using optical cable to my stereo system.

  15. for those having trouble getting sound from DVI, it will not work. even if you use an HDMI to DVI cable. DVI is only a video source, you will have to use some other connection to get sound. that was the huge drawback when they started to put DVI inputs on HDTV’s. If you notice now almost no new HDTV has a DVI input.

  16. I am currently running my 360 with a HDMI cable into a LCD monitor. For audio, all I did was plug in the Headset Output into my computer sub woofers and speakers. Games and CD works great but I get no audio with DVD. Why is that? Is there anyway to get around this without pluging both the HDMI output and the old AV output?

  17. I am using an LCD monitor and an HDMI to DVI cable. I used the method of popping off the plastic covering of the regular composite plug for the XBOX. I get great picture on my monitor but I can not seem to get the sound to work anywhere while I use HDMI cable. I have the red and white audio cable plugged into the TV but it is not producing any sound. Help please

  18. can HDMI be used to connect my XBOX to my monitor if my monitor isn’t HDCP compatible?

  19. @David: Yes, you can connect your Xbox to a monitor that does not have HDCP. My Viewsonic VA712b accepted my 360’s HDMI-converted-to-DVI signal at the native resolution with no problem, without HDCP.

    6/8/08 Update
    Also, my new 24″ NEC 24WMCX LCD accepts DVI/HDMI/Component inputs just fine.

  20. what chord was it that you bought? i’m having the same issue myself…did you say it was an A/V cable from an xbox 360 core?

  21. Commenter
    HoundDog56 says:
    March 13th, 2008 at 5:04 am

    I did the “pop the plastic” thing. I also put a few wraps around the exposed wire with electricians tape. Works GREAT! Thanks for the great idea.

  22. Okay, I popped the plastic covering off of the AV cables, but the 360 seems to restart evertime I swich over from my desktop screen to my 360 (my monitor has two outputs on it HD and Regular) I have both the HDMI and AV cords plugged in and it doesn’t work. I’m not using the HD cords for my x-box does this matter?

  23. Hdmi cables seem to be really expensive in retail stores. I had the same concern with the HDCP compadibility but it worked in the end

  24. guys dont buy a cable to get audio. I simply trimmed down the xbox one. The connection is mostly plastic. I took a knife and slowly trimmid it down until both the hdmi to dvi and the regular rca cables would fit into it at one time….simpler fix imo

  25. Where do you guys plug in the sound cables, because i dont understand how to get sound with this kind of setup.

  26. I have hdmi out to my monitor,and for audio i have a third party vga cable plugged in to the normal video port so i can use the optical…does anyone now if the video would run at the same time on the vga while the hdmi is running?I ask this because i want to capture my gameplay,and i dont have an output on my monitor.

  27. i had the problem, but have a core 360 up stares in my room, and the elite downstares… simply just swapped the cables round, and hooked my hdmi cable in, sorted :D

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