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Author Topic: Connecting Xbox To Plain Audio Dac  (Read 160 times)

DataBitz

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Connecting Xbox To Plain Audio Dac
« on: June 21, 2003, 03:35:00 PM »

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solman989

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Connecting Xbox To Plain Audio Dac
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2003, 09:50:00 AM »

There is an option in the settings menu of XBMP that will allow you to output only stereo.  From what I know, the XBOX outputs a digital signal that must be decoded by a dolby digital decoder.  My receiver has a stereo mode that bypasses 5.1 decoding and forces the output to stereo if the received signal is a 5.1 bitstream.  This is how I listen to music with XBMP.  I really dont think a separate DAC is necessary though.  Those things can be pretty expensive.  I would just use the DAC of a mid to high end receiver.  Remember that the sound quality is only as good as its source, and mp3s are lossy compressed files.  On the other hand, if you're going to grab a DAC anyway for your CD player, then by all means give this a try and let us know your results.
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DataBitz

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Connecting Xbox To Plain Audio Dac
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2003, 04:46:00 PM »

I think you will find that schlapunz does not have a Amplifier with a decoder in it which is why he is looking at using a seperate DAC.
They aren't very expensive, you can get cheap kits with a decoder and speakers for about $100.
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schlapunz

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Connecting Xbox To Plain Audio Dac
« Reply #3 on: June 24, 2003, 12:54:00 AM »

Thanks for the answers - they helped a lot! (I really did not use the MS-Dashboard for a long while ;-))

Regarding the sound quality: IMHO it depends on two things:

- source (mp3): Personally I am not able to distinguish mp3 sound encoded with 192 kbit and above from a CD. So I do not fear using mp3.

- DAC: Every sound card including the one in the Xbox uses a DAC to convert the signal to analog. Theory is that using a high end DAC should sound better than the probably cheap DAC in the Xbox - if your amp and loudspeakers are not the limiting factor. I know that different sound cards make a huge difference and the only reason can be the built in DAC. So I will try it. You find rather cheap second hand DACs on ebay.

The question remains whether the Xbox does the downsampling right. I have no clue how it does it and whether this is necessary. At the beginning I have a stereo mp3 file and want stereo at the output. Well, will see.

Thanks a lot!

schlapunz
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DataBitz

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Connecting Xbox To Plain Audio Dac
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2003, 04:51:00 PM »

QUOTE (schlapunz @ Jun 24 2003, 09:54 PM)
The question remains whether the Xbox does the downsampling right.

When I tested it, it seemed to downsample correctly.
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