Optical Cables

Hi so I have been having trouble with my optical cables recently. I have an Astro a50 3rd gen series and my sound is muffled. I have done everything from messing with the chat mixer all the way to messing with the Audio on the Xbox its self. Now I believe
what the issue is... is that the back of my Xbox where the optical cable plugs in it does not click in it just hangs in there. So my thinking is that dust might have gotten in my Xbox and is messing with the sound and I know how sensitive optical cables are
with that stuff so is there any way to clean it or what not, and if this issue can be fixed without getting a new Xbox.

:)

 

Optical Cables

[quote user="Mikerules868"]

HDMI and standard component.

[/quote]

Since component is capable of carrying an HD signal, I'll guess that either your display or reciever simply won't accept an HD signal via component. This is odd, but since you specify
standard component, I'll have to go with that. It would seem that at this point, your only real option is to connect the 360 through your receiver, using component cables with (from the thread title) optical digital audio... Correct? I'll be honest,
I'm having trouble with this whole standard component issue. Since your receiver is up-to-date enough to have HDMI, I find it hard to believe that it won't accept an HD signal through a component connection. The same goes for the TV (though it may not accept
a full 1080p signal via component). I'm not saying you're lying, I'm saying you're either incorrect or have some really strange equipment. Any piece of gear that has HDMI & component should be able to carry an HD signal through either one.



Your receiver should (depending on it's age & features) be able to convert (and maybe even upscale) an incoming component signal and send it to the display via HDMI. That's one possible option.



What resoultion(s) are you able to set your 360 at? Like I said previously, your TV is going to scale
every incoming signal to it's native resolution anyway. If it only has a 480i signal to work with, the results probably aren't going to look so great.



If you really want a converter (a good one is going to be more than a new 360), your only option I can see (since you don't have access to the back of the display), is to convert the component coming from the 360 to HDMI, so you can utilize
the receiver's HDMI input/output... And run an optical cable from the 360 to the receiver. My best advice, in this situation is to upgrade the receiver and use it to send the 360's component signal to the display via HDMI, and/or bite the bullet & pick up
a newer 360 with HDMI. As for the optical cable, they're pretty much all the same. It's a digital signal, so as long as the cable gets the signal from one end to the other (isn't defective or damaged), it's good. Of course, if you were to get an HDMI 360,
you wouldn't have to worry about the audio. I haven't mentioned the display, since it (obviously) has HDMI, it's good to go connection-wise.

 

Optical Cables

Other than HD component or VGA, is there any other way to get HD output?

 

Hi there,

a muffled sound is likely not caused by dust, since it would either work or not at all since an optic cable will either allow signals to go through or not at all, at least that is my opinion. But if you want to be sure, you can try and take a look in the
optical connector at the back of the console with for example a flashlight if you can see anything. If something is there you may need to find a way to get it out, be aware that blowing or using canned air can result in condensation.

Some other things worth to check is to see if there is an update available for the Astro A50 3rd gen. Also be sure to check what your headset does on a different console (if available) to determine the cause of the issue, headset, console, cable etc.

Let us know the results

 

Have you tried different optical cables? I'd check if there's any broken plastic on either the cable ends or the optical port on the Xbox. If there's any dust in the optical port, then I'd definitely blow it out, preferably with quick puff from a can of
compressed air.

Optical cables aren't susceptible to interference like regular audio cables, since it's just a laser passing through a glass fiber. The one thing that would ruin the optical signal would be sharp bends along the cable.

Ensure all connections to the Xbox and your headset's receiver are secure. Your headset also has some adjustable audio functions as well, so try experimenting with what's available. Downloadable PDF product manuals could be found on this webpage: Astro
Gaming Support

 

As the others already suggest, I'd doubt that the muffled sound comes from the optical cable.

Since the sound data is transmitted digitally through the cable, it either works, or does not work.

Anything "in between" would result in loud scratching, static noise or similar sound drop outs.

It's not possible for a digital signal to become "muffled".

So try to use your Astro headset on a different device just for testing if possible. I very much suspect, that the issue is on the headset itself, if sound is muffled.

 

Did you try to use another optical cable?