Headphones with a Xbox 360

[Duddyroar]

Ok, I want to get a set of headphones for my 360, but here's the rub - my machine is connected directly into my telly which has no audio outputs. I don't have a stereo I can feed anything into, either.

I noticed on Eurogamer that they've recently reviewed a pair of USB headphones, but they're ?80 a pop!

I was wondering if there's any other headphones on the market that do the same thing?

[EvilBoris]

You could either get a 360 video cable that has separate audio out and then get an adapter to connect that straight to a pair of headphones.

Doing this can be a little bit tricky controlling volume as you have to rely on the in game sound options, which aren't always there.

Or You could get one of those little surround decoders which you could plug into the optical output of the 360 and then that will have it's own volume control.

[Duddyroar]

I don't really want to change my video cable so the second option seems the best, how much will one of those things cost? I assume they come with their own headphone stocket so I can use whatever headphones I like?

[VR46]

I use VGA lead from 360, the two audio outputs go into a AV/Headphone female adaptor (two quid-ish from Maplins and the like), and use headphones with a volume control dial on the lead. Sorted cheap and cheerfully

[RBelmont]

while usb headphones are available, its hard to reccomend them at all.

they will be porely driven for starters, and the quality of headphones i'd magine would be poor(i dont see many companies making really good usb phones)

senny 555's/grado sr-60/80's and a creative portable decoder ftw.

but if audio quality isnt an issue then any will do

[TommyG]

I've got these

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=174864

but got them for the states for about ?60 all in, and they are worth every penny.

[Duddyroar]

Those are the ones that Eurogamer has just reviewed. £60 just seems too much in my eyes, and don't they need a seperate PSU?

[Duddyroar]

I use VGA lead from 360, the two audio outputs go into a AV/Headphone female adaptor (two quid-ish from Maplins and the like), and use headphones with a volume control dial on the lead. Sorted cheap and cheerfully

I can't use a VGA lead sadly! SCART only here.

[TommyG]

Nope, they come with their own mini amp and optical cable

It's expensive, but what you're getting is a 5.1 surround sound system, even when i don't need to use the headphones (when the Mrs is out) i still find myself using them because the sound is so good and for xbox live the built in mic is a god send.

[Duddyroar]

Nope, they come with their own mini amp and optical cable

It's expensive, but what you're getting is a 5.1 surround sound system, even when i don't need to use the headphones (when the Mrs is out) i still find myself using them because the sound is so good and for xbox live the built in mic is a god send.

You've got me seriously interested now...because I play games late at night I can't have the sound on at all in case I wake the other half or the nipper, and we've got another kid on the way next year so I will need to be even more quiet...so these might be a solid purchase, even at that price.

So they simply plug direct into the 360? No additional power is required?

Any recommendations about where to buy them? As cheap as possible, obviously...

[Chunky]

I used the same method as Hollis but if you use a SCART cable i guess that's out of the question. Unless you want to run a composite cable through a scart block, but then you're compromising video quality ...

[Duddyroar]

Yeah, like I said I wanna keep the SCART lead.

Can't believe it's this hard, TBH. When I lived at my folks it obviously wasn't a problem as I would just get a SCART cable with phono splitters on it (for whatever console I owned at the time, obviously not the 360 as it wasn't out back then) and feed the phonos into my stereo. Sadly in my new house there's no room in the living room for a stereo, at least not near the telly.

[EvilBoris]

They usually need some batteries, there are several different companies that make them, the headphones themselves aren't any different to normal headphones, its the little decoder box bit you get with it that does the important stuff.

[fallenangle]

I'm sure you realise this but you can't just plug any old headphones in and get sound out. I hope that is clear - you'll still need a separate amp or headphones with their own built in amp/volume control.

A small decoder of the type mentioned will work with the XB360 optical output but that solution can be inapproriately expensive unless you can find a decoder very cheap on eBay or wherever. If money isn't too much of an issue invest in a full size home cinema/AV amp/decoder, they're surprisingly cheap at the lower end and usually have optical audio input options and one or more headphone sockets.

The solution I used when the headphone socket went on one of my TVs was to use a SCART cable with an AV block + the appropriate twin RCA cabling connected to a small headphone amp bought from Lektropacks. At today's prices that's still a ?60+ solution and the amp isn't very good in sound quality terms either. That's actually the reason I bougt a Sony AV amp/decoder 3 years ago. Cost me ?120, 6 different sets of audio inputs/outputs, two optical inputs, headphone socket and most importantly good sound quality. One of the most useful extra purchases a gamer can make IMHO.

[Duddyroar]

Nope, they come with their own mini amp and optical cable

CVG review says:

The package comes with an external audio controller box that plugs into the mains - they're literally too powerful for batteries.

This is a no-go for me as all the power sockets near my 360 are taken up! and before you say use a trailing socket - I'm already using two!