U2311h Xbox 360 issue

J

Jonesyy

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
97
So there I was, lying in bed, excited for tomorrow to go buy an XBOX 360 after years of abstaining from it due to my affair with PC gaming. There I am, thinking how good it will be to get to console game again, even if I still hold PC gaming as my favourite format.

And then it hits me... I own a U2311h as my primary monitor, and it has no sound output as it is a diehard PC display.

I'm literally tearing my mind apart over this one, and cannot work out if there is any way for me to use the 360 to game off the monitor. I have searched and searched and the answers I get seem to be a bit baffling to me.

I will obviously use a VGA cable to connect, easy enough for the video segment, but how do I then get the sound to either or both my speakers and headphones. In an ideal world I would like to use my Senn HD598's, but for when my flatmates join me I would like to use the speakers I use on my PC.

How the heck do I do that?

Surely on the VGA cable the red/white connection is too short to reach down to my PC? Or am I totally missing a piece of this jigsaw here? And then what about my headphones?

Any help here would be very much appreciated.
 
Ok I think I am starting to understand this issue more, but could people confirm that this would even work please.

1st. Buy: HD VGA Adapter

XBOX to monitor for video.

2nd. Red/White cables go to a Audio/Stereo to 3.5mm jack cable.

3rd. Next I need to a simple coupler such as this so that I can plug my speakers or headphone jack to my XBOX rather than my PC.

Phew. Correct? Please.
 
Looks about right but you may need an amp to drive headphones, doubt you could plug them directly in. but your pc speakers should work as long as they are powered.
 
Oh, indeed. I'm used to my PC soundcard being suitable for my headphones alone. Does the 360 not have a soundcard or something similar? The senns are really not so powerful that they require an amp as such. But is it essential to run them at all would you say?
 
I am not sure about the audio levels put out by the console itself. Do your speakers have a headphone jack? If so you may want to test if it amplifies the signal, as you could potentially use the speakers as an amp.
 
Well, you can plug them in directly like that but you won't be able to control volume.

Do you not have something else you can put between the two things to control volume? A small headphone amp or a receiver? Does your soundcard have an input you could monitor and control volume of through your PC?
 
My speakers have volume and bass control, my headphones are at a fixed volume determined by the PC settings.

For speakers I would imagine that is fine, but, to be honest, my work around was only for the ability to use my headphones. The small sub on my Logitech X323's had input for audio. I just do not see any 3.5mm jack on it to plug the headphones in to.

Though with that said, maybe I missed it. Did a quick Google Search as it got me interested and they claim it does have a 3.5mm female connection somewhere. Intriguing. By that, I could use the volume control on the speaker to dictate the volume coming through my headphones?

edit:// No I don't think there is another 3.5mm output. Misread, it is talking about the jack that goes to the PC.

The headphones would be a luxury, but right now I am mainly glad I can easily connect audio to the XBOX while using the monitor. I'll see how the headphones sound as well as the other 2 cables will cost around £5 tops together. I'll report back tomorrow, in case anybody at all might be interested.
 
Last edited:
If your soundcard has an optical input, you can try sending the XBOX 360's optical out to that. Otherwise, an AV receiver can work as a total solution so you don't have to swap your speaker/headphone cables whenever you switch from PC to the XBOX 360.
 
Using RCA to 3.5mm adapter will work just fine. There are a few games that doesn't have volume controls and but most games will have an acceptable volume. FIIOS E5 is a really good portable amp for under $20.
 
You could just connect the sound to the line in on your tower and then set that input to listen in windows.
 
Using a RCA to 3.5mm adapter directly into your headphones is not a good choice because the volume will be probably low. And even if it wasn't that low, you'd have no control over it.
You can use this RCA to 3.5mm adapter to plug it into the Line in of your PC's sound card. That way you could control the volume through your PC. The bad thing about this option, is that whenever you want to play the Xbox 360, you'll need your PC to be turned on too.
You can buy speakers with auxiliar and headphone inputs like the Logitech LS11. That way you can connect your Xbox 360 into the auxiliar input and use your headphones with it, having volume control. They're not that expensive.
Another similar option is buying a headphone amp like the Behringer HA400.
You can also go fancy and buy something like the Astro Mixamp to take the best out of your HD 598. With this one, you could use an optical cable to have 5.1 surround sound or use the RCA's directly for stereo sound (no need to use an adapter). This option is certainly the best, if you have the budget.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top