Connecting a Surround Sound System an Xbox 360, and a TV...

Question

Ok, I'm a bit confused on how all the connections actually take place. My tv has two HDMI connections. Is it possible to have a receiver with two HDMI connections and have one go to the tv and one to the xbox and never have to switch cables around? If not How do you get the xbox to work on the tv in HD with surround sound?

Answer 1

Just get a receiver with HDMI capabilities and you can plug all of your HDMI(and any other kind of) components directly into the receiver and have the receiver output everything through 1 HDMI cable to the tv. I recommend the Onkyo 606. It is a 7.1ch receiver with onboard decoding for just about every HD audio format and it also upscaled all analog sources up to 1080i. It also has 4 HDMI inputs and 2 component inputs and more composite/S-video connections than I care to count. To get HD sound from a non-HDMI xbox 360, you just need an Optical cable. I have a lot of components connected to my 606. My: PS3(HDMI), PS2(Composite), Xbox 360(Component w/ Optical out), and HD DVD player(HDMI) just to name a few. And I can switch between any of those components simply by pushing a button. The 606 retails for $600 but you can get it for $400 off Amazon. It has been regarded as one of, if not the best receiver under $600.

Answer 2

daniel below has given the most complete answer

cheers

Answer 3

in order to connect your 360 using HDMI your 360 will require an HDMI port in which most 360's do not have unless you purchased an elite or system within last few months as before now they were unavailable on 360's. the HDMI ports are similar to usb ports but they are not the same!

and furthermore the 360's that do have an HDMI only have one port.

HDMI carries the audio and video signals together NOT separate!

you can purchase 2 HDMI cables and connect your 360 to home receiver

and other HDMI cable to your HD tv. IF you do not have an HDMI port

on your 360 no problem.... you can buy a component video cable made by microsoft at most 360 retailers.  the component video cable has a red,green,blue, connection(RGB) which is your video

and this is the part of the cable that plugs into your component video input on your tv provided you have one. and the there are 2 audio cables included with the component cable left/right audio red+ white-

that you can connect to your home receiver. or if you like their is an output for optical digital audio built directly into the connection end of the component cable; and you can purchase an optical digital cable at most home theater retailers as well. although i caution... do not

connect your 360 digitally to a sony home theatre system as they are probably incompatible since sony uses (spdif)

sony phillips digital interface! which is not compatible with most standard digital codecs.  so anyhow this will provide you with

HD video gaming and MULTI channel sound that is if you have a 5.1

configuration and 5.1 speakers(left,right,center,surround-back... and subwoofer(.1) meaning 100hz standing for low frequency content. I hope this helped answer yourquestions hav a good one!