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[bobjim17]

Hi Guys;

Firstly, on behalf of, well, me; I would like to welcome myself to the world of Xbox360, I picked it up two days ago, woohoo! (Isn't the new Live! so wummerful? Heh.)

I have a small problem with my optical sound, however.
(Typically) When explosions occur, I get a chronic crackling sound coming through my speakers. It's almost as if the speakers are blown and distorting, although they sound fine on CD playback, or on the radio etc.

It happened with my original Xbox also, however I assumed it was the cord and replaced it, and since then never used it enough to notice whether it was an issue. It happens apparently at random, no particular rhyme or reason, and is affected by any sound coming from the Xbox360 itself. (Or the Xbox original also)

It may occur after a minute, or after an hour, you can never really tell. It's not just limited to explosions, either, it can occur on every sound, even treble notes from music etc; it's just that the first time I notice it (during the current session) is on an explosion or some such 'boom' type noise.

I have hunted around on the internet for quite a while, and found no indication of a fix. Some say the fact that the xbox and the stereo are both controlling the sampling rate (at least I think thats what it was) that they sometimes get out of synch or some such. If this is the case, why does this not happen with other's systems, just mine?

Others say that the sampling rate of the optical port is configured to only 8bit or 16bit when it needs to be 32-bit. As far as I am aware, this is not changeable.

And some even say it's an act of God, and I must pray for repair! Now, I'm a God-fearing man, I just dont get this last one. If man created it, man should surely be able to fix it, no?

So, can someone please help me with this? At this stage due to the newness of the Xbox and the cord, I can only assume it is my stereo. The issue with that is that it's such a mission to 'un-plumb' the whole thing, I'm hoping to get some guidance before I muck around pulling it all out to get it repaired. The last thing I want to do is waste time on a major job that turns out to be inherently un-necessary. Maybe a cotton tip (Q-tip for you Americans, I think) with some meths to clean the optical pickup?

Thanks in advance all, hope to see you on Live! (Even though I'm really bad, it's great fun to have a game or two!)

bobjim17

[twistedsymphony]

If other optical devices (like your Xbox 1) have similar results I'd would imagine the problem is with the receiver not the Xbox... CDs and Radio make for poor comparisons because they're only Stereo audio where the cracking could be something stemming from the decoder.

Try some similar dolby digital 5.1 content from another source. or bring your Xbox to the house of a friend who has a surround sound system and see if the problem occurs on his system as well.

Finding the root of your problem is all about process of elimination.

I've never experienced cracking like you describe but my Xbox 360 does drop the digital signal every so often (the audio will just go completely silent for a few seconds) Apparently it's a pretty common occurrence.

[twistedsymphony]

QUOTE(xzenor @ Jul 10 2006, 08:07 AM)

Try a new Fiber Optic cable. I hade my Xbox1 connected to a X2VGA, every now and then I'd get the same problem. I upgraded to Monster Cable and the problem went away....Crappy cable.

XzeneR

Interesting that you'd suggest a Monster cable. Out of the 12 or so optical cables I've owned over the last decade... the Monster cable I got for my Xbox 1 is the only one that has ever crapped out on me.

if you're looking for new cables go here http://www.monoprice.com/ I's the only address you need to know for high quality/low price AV cables

EDIT: just checking the site it seems today's special is a 3FT optical toslink cable for 97cents... the monster optical is what $30?

[bobjim17]

Well, I have two inputs and so swapped them over, and the problem is definitely lesser, but it hasnt gone away. I think I will do the lot, get new cables and also  take the machine in for repair.

Thanks for the help, guys, really appreciate it. Good to have some more opinions before I make a decision.
Cheers all!

See YOU on Live!

bobjim17

[mblackmore]

my new 360 does this too on explosions or big bass hits

thought it was me stereo, but after reading this, it may not be. but im not using optical out im only using the RCAs??