Recommend me a Sound System for Xbox 360

TechnoFreek

Pretty much as the title says!

Can anyone recommend me a surround sound system for the 360.

I need to be able to connect it directly to the 360. I presume it would need an optical connection as I am currently using a vga cable connected to my PC LCD monitor and I think that is my only audio output option.

This doesnt need to be an expensive system, just something cheap and cheerful that does the job.

All advice appreciated!

Clank

Sorted ... http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=303911

TechnoFreek

Cheers Clank!

Its a tad pricey for me at the moment though! Need to try keep under the €150 if thats possible

Anything cheaper you could recommend?

Vegeta

Burning Eclipse on here has a savage sound system for his, I'm sure he'll be in with his recommendation

Burning Eclipse

Sadly not in your price range but my speakers, the ones Vegeta was talking about, are the Logitech Z5450's. The rear speakers are wireless which is nice, that sealed the deal for me. Got em for €297 on pixmania. A few boards people have em iirc.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia/review/2006/07/10/Logitech-Z-5450-Wireless-Speakers/p1

Honestly, you won't get a set-up with optical for €150, I tried for ages because I was skint, eventually saved up and went for these. If you can save a bit, do and get em!!

Kinetic^

Burning Eclipse wrote:

Honestly, you won't get a set-up with optical for €150

Yeah can't see it happening tbh, put it off for a while and save.

jester77

I have an older version of those Logitech speakers, the z-680's. Amazing sounds made with the gamer in mind and the bass just lifts you out of it. They don't have wireless rear speakers, this came with the next generation. I got them 3 or 4 years when they were just released for about €500. Should be able to pick them up for cheap now and I'd say you'd def get them secondhand for €150 although they would incure some serious postage as they are quite heavy.

Can read about them here on IGN

mcgovern

Clank wrote:

Sorted ... http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=303911

I've got these as well, brilliant!

xanthor

mcgovern wrote:

I've got these as well, brilliant!

Thirded. Pretty happy with Logitech's support as well. The remote died on me and they sent me a new one straight away.

The Z-5450 is about €50 cheaper than the Z-5500, although not as loud, it's comparative.

pp_me129

Acoustic Solutions DS1333 Thats what i have find it very good

skywalker

Burning Eclipse wrote:

Sadly not in your price range but my speakers, the ones Vegeta was talking about, are the Logitech Z5450's. The rear speakers are wireless which is nice, that sealed the deal for me. Got em for €297 on pixmania. A few boards people have em iirc.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia/review/2006/07/10/Logitech-Z-5450-Wireless-Speakers/p1

Honestly, you won't get a set-up with optical for €150, I tried for ages because I was skint, eventually saved up and went for these. If you can save a bit, do and get em!!

What pricerange are these in & are they available from komplett & high street? Gonna have a proper look at the review later on.

EDIT/ is that like a built in mini amp? like you can hook this up to your tv/computer/console without buying an amp?

xanthor

skywalker wrote:

What pricerange are these in & are they available from komplett & high street? Gonna have a proper look at the review later on.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=313174

skywalker wrote:

EDIT/ is that like a built in mini amp? like you can hook this up to your tv/computer/console without buying an amp?

Computer/Console yes. Tv depends on what type of connections it has.

skywalker

Looks like a really nice set of speakers, just noticed the rear "wireless" speakers still need a power cable attached. Why would they not put batteries in them & make them properly wireless? Why god why?


Looks like Im still waiting for an audio system that ticks all my boxes.

qballirl

How ya doin have you tried to use a dvd surround system that you might have in your house allready if so try connecting your xbox and dvd to your tv turn on your console and change the output of your dvd to "TV" should get some pretty nice sound out of that, also if you are connecting your xbox via component, connect the yellow cable to the tv and get an extenesion for the two audio connections and plus it into an auxilary port in the back of a stereo or dvd or amp whatever it maybe and another suggestion would to get the two audio connections buy an adapter in dixons for about 10 - 15 euro that will convert your cable from auxilary to phono jack and plug it into anything that accepts a microphone input, hope i could be of some help cause sometimes ya gotta cheap it out and sometimes its the best option.

TechnoFreek

qballirl wrote:

How ya doin have you tried to use a dvd surround system that you might have in your house allready if so try connecting your xbox and dvd to your tv turn on your console and change the output of your dvd to "TV" should get some pretty nice sound out of that, also if you are connecting your xbox via component, connect the yellow cable to the tv and get an extenesion for the two audio connections and plus it into an auxilary port in the back of a stereo or dvd or amp whatever it maybe and another suggestion would to get the two audio connections buy an adapter in dixons for about 10 - 15 euro that will convert your cable from auxilary to phono jack and plug it into anything that accepts a microphone input, hope i could be of some help cause sometimes ya gotta cheap it out and sometimes its the best option.

My pc speakers have a headphone and mic input on the fron of the right speaker.

The vga cable I use with the xbox has a left and right rca audio output.
If I got an adaptor to convert these two outputs to a 3.5mm jack could i connect it directly the speaker and more importantly will it work??!!!!

qballirl

It will your as long as it has a mic in but i wouldnt expect anything more quaility than what the pc speakers can trow out at the moment aswell if you are going to be using a mic with pc speakers i presume the audio will go trough the mic jack into the pc and will be sent back out of the speakers, the only problem i could see there is that the pc will drastically reduce the sound quaility that was inputted into it, You have another option here aswell if you can get an auxilary to female phono cable then you could plug your speakers directly into the female phone jack the quaility should be kept pretty good as your not braking the connection too much, but if you cant find anything like this i would suggest you try make it yourself by picking up the componens you need and wiring them up.

kensutz

I have the Z-5450's and they're brilliant. Got them from Pixmania.

savemejebus

Where are you based?

If you're anywhere near limerick and on a budget a shop called Clancys have these http://www.michaelscrivo.com/HP/Previews/GallantPST/index.html, and i think they cost about €99. Got a set free with a tv a few years ago and I have to say they're really good. They have optical and coaxial inputs as well as phono etc.

The definition of cheap and cheerful but they work well.

unklerosco

http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/541204/art/sony/ht-ddw790-home-cinema-sys.html?itag=3891#

What about that??

I have this one
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/541205/art/sony/ht-ddw890-home-cinema-sys.html#

Its the business.. Fantastic sound, tonne of inputs n well worth the cash.. especially when u consider that its only €50 more than the logitech sets

starman100

unklerosco wrote:

I have this one
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/541205/art/sony/ht-ddw890-home-cinema-sys.html#

Its the business.. Fantastic sound, tonne of inputs n well worth the cash.. especially when u consider that its only €50 more than the logitech sets

Yup, I would second the Sony, I have this system as well and its excellent. Have it connected to Sky+ box, DVD player and Xbox 360 (from next week )

mcgovern

I dont know what they are like or if they have optical, but within your budget range.
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055126588

johnnyflav

I got these at home, Sony 790's, picked them up at a Sony Centre for €290. They are a great system for the 360, optical in and digital co-axial. And they come with a HDMI switching, they're all you'll need from a surround sound.

The Logitech's are very good, especially if you like it LOUD. But they're a lot more attention seeking than the Sony, the sub on the Logitech 5500 is massive.

As for your budget, you will struggle to find a speaker system with optical in for less than €300, I've tried. But for the improvemnet in sound and overall AV experience, the extra cash is worth it. I might even go so far as to say it will add more to your DVD/gaming experience than a HD TV.

Brianb8802

I bought this system last christmas and dont have a bad word to say about it

Samsung

600W system with optical input, for €225 delivered, cant go wrong with that. I was in the same situation as you before christmas, I wasnt willing to pay over €150 for the system, but eventually was persuaded by people in the know, to fork out the extra few quid. Havent looked back since. It has a co axial input aswell.


If your thinking of using it for listening to music (parties or just pleasure) one of these is an absolute must Airport Express. I have it set up using the optical cable, and stream the music wirelessly from my laptop. Sound is unbelievable, have had a few parties with it going. The airport express also gives you wireless internet for the xbox.

Clank

qballirl wrote:

It will your as long as it has a mic in but i wouldnt expect anything more quaility than what the pc speakers can trow out at the moment aswell if you are going to be using a mic with pc speakers i presume the audio will go trough the mic jack into the pc and will be sent back out of the speakers, the only problem i could see there is that the pc will drastically reduce the sound quaility that was inputted into it, You have another option here aswell if you can get an auxilary to female phono cable then you could plug your speakers directly into the female phone jack the quaility should be kept pretty good as your not braking the connection too much, but if you cant find anything like this i would suggest you try make it yourself by picking up the componens you need and wiring them up.

Thats a lot of effort for what will effectively be stereo (badly) upmixed to 5.1.

Get a set with optical TechnoFreek, save more, theres lots of good recommendations on this thread any of the Logitechs mentioned or Sonys.(never liked Sony myself though)

johnnyflav

This is a little off topic again, but if you were to use your surround sound as a music player, and you already have an Xbox360, it would be a lot more simple as you can plug in you ipod and see the song selection on screen.

Alternatively if your xbox is on your home network, you can use as a music router from your laptop/pc on the same network.

Brianb8802

johnnyflav wrote:

Alternatively if your xbox is on your home network, you can use as a music router from your laptop/pc on the same network.

I have problems doing that, when i stram music from my laptop through the xbox, it only play through two speakers, the front right and front left, and also the sub isnt used either so there is no bass

johnnyflav

Brianb8802 wrote:

I have problems doing that, when i stream music from my laptop through the xbox, it only play through two speakers, the front right and front left, and also the sub isnt used either so there is no bass

This problem had me stumpted for a while too. You've got to set your surround sound to 'DD Pro-Logic' or 'Pro-Logix II', it's the internal processing for converting stereo audio (two channel) to 5.1. It will automatically detect the native format of the audio.

Some systems will have a special 'Pro-Logic II' music setting, so you won't have the same distribution of frequencies as you would have for films etc

Brianb8802

johnnyflav wrote:

This problem had me stumpted for a while too. You've got to set your surround sound to 'DD Pro-Logic' or 'Pro-Logix II', it's the internal processing for converting stereo audio (two channel) to 5.1. It will automatically detect the native format of the audio.

Some systems will have a special 'Pro-Logic II' music setting, so you won't have the same distribution of frequencies as you would have for films etc

Ah thanks for that jonnyflav will try that later. That was really wreckin my head!!