Customer Reviews

Xbox 360 HDMI Cable

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I Love my XBOX 360 with it's Microsoft VGA Cable.
Just wanted to Clear this up for people with the older 360's looking to boost their graphics. (This Cable dose exactly what it is meant to do, that is why I give it 5 Stars).

I have a non-HDMI XBOX 360 core system mfg. 7/2007, the picture doesn't show it well, but all this package contains is a Standard HDMI cable and a adapter that connects to the large A/V port on the back of the 360 and goes out to SOUND ONLY.

This WILL NOT Adapt your Standard 360 A/V port to HDMI.

This product only works if your XBOX 360 Already has a HDMI port in the back and it just gives you ports for audio so you can attach your 360 to HDMI and your surround sound receiver. where as with just HDMI cable, the sound is just coming from your TV's speakers.

What you see is what you get. Take a look at the package. You see two ends of an HDMI cable. That is a plain vanilla HDMI cable that you could get anywhere. Over on the right is the audio dongle, and you are seeing just about the whole thing except for the part that connects to the Xbox 360. It all works fine. This audio dongle is slimmer that the standard Microsoft A/V progressive cable, which is what gives you the room to put the HDMI cable in.

Don't get this unless you have one of the newer HDMI Xbox's. This is not a conversion kit.

Don't get this if you plan on running the HDMI cable from the Xbox 360 to your receiver, with another HDMI out from your receiver to your TV. If that is your setup, just get a plain HDMI cable and save money.

Don't get this if you plan on running the HDMI cable from the Xbox 360 to your TV, AND you have a Digital Audio Out on your TV that you can run to your receiver, AND you have verified that the Digital Audio Out will not truncate any Dolby Digital 5.1 HDMI signal down to 2 channel audio, which can happen with some TVs. Of course, you'll need a spare HDMI cable to test with first, but if you still get DD 5.1 out of the Digital out on your TV, then no need to get this.

Otherwise, if you still need this for the separate optical audio connection between the Xbox 360 and your receiver, then this is perfectly acceptable, though much more expensive than a plain HDMI cable you can get online.

Maybe I'm dumb, but it wasn't clear from the other reviews that all you need to hook up your XBox360 elite to a HDMI connection is a regular $5 HDMI cable. Period.

The only reason you need to buy this (except if you're dumb like me and didn't pay enough attention to the other reviews) is if you want to hook up video to one place (like your tv) but have the audio go somewhere else (like a receiver that doesn't have any HDMI inputs, or has run out of them).

Unless you are in this rare case, go to your cable closet, pull out a spare HDMI cable, and you'll be fine without wasting your money on this.

Oh, it works fine, just like any $5 HDMI cable would. :-P

The HDMI AV kit includes an HDMI cable (which you can find online for about $5.00 if you look around) and the XBox HDMI AV adapter. The reason they sell this kit is because they designed the standard HD-AV (component) cable connector to be too big to work in conjunction with an HDMI cable, so if you want HDMI video -AND- optical or Red/White RCA audio, you have to use this adapter to get the audio connections into the XBox 360's rear port.

...Or so they want you to think.

The truth is that this is just the same connector as the HD-AV cable (Component cable) but it lacks the video connection, and the housing is slightly smaller. No technological wizardry involved. It's just a smaller plastic box, and thus your HDMI cable will fit next to this in your XBox 360's connector port.

You could spend the money for this if you're not very handy. By all means, I'm sure Microsoft needs the money!

OR, you could take a dremel to a used XBox 360 HD-AV (component) cable, cut out some of the extra plastic, and use THAT in conjunction with your HDMI cable.

I take no responsibility for your clumsiness or if you mess up your XBox 360, but I can attest to the fact that a cut-away HD-AV cable works fine for transmitting audio while your HDMI cable transmits video.

So the choice is yours: $50 for this thing, or use your existing cable (the one that came with your XBox 360) and a Dremel, and save yourself some cash.

To clarify and hopefully help some of you; from what I understand, the Xbox HDMI only supports 2-channel PCM audio over HDMI. Also, if your tv happens to have an optical output, it most likely only outputs 2 channels and not 5.1. It is therefore that microsoft includes the adapter in this package so that you can get 5.1 true the optical output. There is a hack you can do if you have a component cable, however, leaving the metal part exposed, increases the chance of a short circuit. In short, if you'd like to have Surround sound, you may need this, else, you don't need the adapter and are better off buying a cheap $5 HDMI cable.

It is unfortunate that MSFT didn't build this into the system and is charging this much for it.
Edit: As T Berry clarifies in his comment, you can get 5.1 through the HDMI cable if you have a reciever that supports hdmi (which I don't) and go from there to your tv. This cable is needed if you need optical audio. The xbox supports HDMI 1.2 and not 1.3 and so you cannot get Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams through HDMI (if that's important to you).

...know what you are buying and what your needs are. Description clearly states that this unit does nothing except allow you to run an HDMI video signal to your TV for 1080p and a digital audio signal to your home theatre system. If you have a home theatre system with HDMI inputs and outputs you do not need this. If you want sound coming from TV speakers you do not need this. Works great for what it does and meets my needs. If you do not have an XBOX with an HDMI output, then obviously you do not need this.

Works only with xboxes that have HDMI output ports (manufactured around July 07). This kit allows you to connect your xbox to an hdmi input on your TV. It also comes with a special adaptor that allows you to connect an output dongle to the regular output of the xbox. This adaptor allows you to output an optical connection to your sound system separately (for those of you who don't want/can't get their audio through HDMI)

Con: It stinks that you need this. The xbox comes with a connector that has an optical audio output, but this connector is so large that an HDMI cable will not fit into the adjacent HDMI port at the same time.

I own a DLP tv that only accepts 1080p resolution through the HDMI. My current XBOX is a 2006 model, and I use componenet cable for video and optical for my surround sound system (which doenst do 1080p pass through).

I just went out and bought a new xbox with an HDMI port so I could get the most out of my TV....and to my surprise, the old VGA adaptor DOESNT FIT WHEN YOU HAVE THE HDMI CABLE PLUGGED IN.

Essentially this accessory has a smaller housing input, so you can hook up the HDMI for video and the VGA for audio.

It works just fine, but it would have been nice if MSFT didnt try to screw people out of more money...

Not much to review here. It either works or it doesn't, its just an adapter & an HDMI cable. Instead I'll make a suggestion: Don't pay full price for this thing. I got this for like $15 on here through Direct Deals. Sure, it shows up loosely placed in a black shipping bag out of the box, but do you really need the Xbox packaging? Do yourself a favor & save the money. You can use that extra cash to put towards an overpriced Xbox hard drive!

Oh, & just in case you're confused about whats in here, its an HDMI cable & an audio adapter with both standard A/V & an optical cable input. I have the Logitech Z-5500 speakers & they don't support HDMI, so I plug them in directly to the Xbox using this adapter plus an additional optical cable. (purchased seperately).
Hope that helps.

As many have already described, this item is nothing but another nickel and dime attempt by Microsoft. This product may do what it advertises, but in reality if Microsoft designed the HDMI capable XBOX's better in the first place than this would not even be needed. I would like to think that it was a simple oversight on Microsoft's part, but come on; this is Microsoft we are talking about. I'm willing to bet the poor design of having the HDMI port so close to the standard A/V port on the back of the console was purposely done in an attempt to get more money out of customers when they (the customers) realized that they couldn't use their non-HDMI A/V receiver as a sound source when using an HDMI cable with their 360.

Microsoft could have easily just sold the extender by itself without forcing people to buy another HDMI cable. Besides, everyone who bought an Elite console already has an HDMI cable that was included with the console (not sure about the HDMI enabled Pro systems) and the fact is, if you are even considering this kit in the first place, then chances are you already have an HDMI cable as well. Yet instead of just offering people what they need, Microsoft wants to only allow you have the extender portion if you buy their HDMI cable at a premium.

If you are looking at this kit, then the problem you probably have is that you want to use an HDMI cable in conjunction with your existing A/V cable perhaps to send the sound to your receiver that does not have HDMI capability. To solve this problem you have three options:

1) Get ripped off and pay Microsoft their ridiculous price for this kit when all you probably really need is the extender portion.

2) Using a knife or a flat head screwdriver, pry the gray portion off of your existing A/V cable which will give you enough space to use this in conjunction with your HDMI cable. Search YouTube if you need visuals. Done correctly, your savings will be 100% over option 1.

3) If you are uncomfortable with #2, go to Ebay and find out if anyone is selling the "extender" portion of this kit separately from the unneeded HDMI cable. You shouldn't have to spend more than a few dollars on it equating to a savings of 80% - 90% over option 1.

Even if you don't already have an HDMI cable, this kit is STILL a rip off. This is because HDMI cables can be had for a relatively cheap price. But companies like Microsoft and Monster will attempt to rip you off by lying; saying their HDMI cables are so much better than everyone else's. It's not uncommon for Monster's longer HDMI cable prices to exceed triple digit prices! However the reality is, all HDMI cables are basically the same and you won't notice any difference using an overpriced Monster (or Microsoft) cable than one that just cost a few bucks.

The choice is yours all three options I described will solve your problem, but only two are cost effective.