Trouble with Onkyo HT-SR600 and Xbox 360. Please help!

[VGAce]

Hi,

I recently purchased the Onkyo HT-SR600 Home Theater System to use with my Xbox 360, but I'm having a huge problem that I simply can't seem to fix. I'm not getting any sound from any of the speakers!

I'm using an optical cable with the 360's HD AV Pack and hooking it up to the optical input on the back of the SR600 receiver (though the receiver designation is "HT-R340" if that matters). All I care about is the audio since all I'm using the system for is gaming; I just hook the composite yellow cable into the TV to get video. I also hooked up the component cables to the receiver as well, though I know they have nothing to do with audio - could this, somehow, be causing a problem? Does it matter if they're plugged into the receiver or not?

Additionally, if it matters, I have a standard-definition TV and the only inputs in the back are RF and RCA (yellow-red-white), so component cables and HDMI are basically useless to me. If what I've gathered from other threads I've read is true, all I really need in this case is the optical cable connected between the receiver and the 360, no? Is this not the case? I was led to believe that, once I did this, the receiver would automatically decode the digital signal and play audio, but absolutely nothing happens.

I've tried setting the correct digital input on the receiver (OPT1, or Optical 1, in this case), though I don't understand exactly why it matters if I'm not running anything, such as a DVD player, through the receiver to the TV. If someone could elaborate on this, I'd appreciate it.

The best I can do is get pitiful analog sound by hooking up the red and white composite cables to the appropriate inputs on the back of the receiver, but the sound only plays through either one or two speakers depending on the Listening Mode. This isn't what I want anyway, but I thought I'd mention it's as far as I've gotten.

Anyway, after exhaustively trying to find an existing thread around the internet reporting the same problem, and failing to see any solution that has yet to work for me, my only option is to ask directly. Am I missing something? Do I need another component (a missing part of the puzzle, not the cables)? Forgive the length of this post, but I'm just trying to give as much information to work with as possible in order to get a clear answer and avoid back-and-forth questioning. Also, forgive me if anything I say is incorrect, confusing, or just plain ignorant; over the last 48 hours I've had a crash course in everything HTSIB, whereas before I knew next to nothing.

Just to answer a few possible questions beforehand...

• The optical cable is not defective. I get a red light coming out of the end in the AV receiver, and the 360 HD pack dongle shines red inside the socket when I remove the cable

• I already have the audio settings for the Xbox 360 set to Dolby Digital 5.1

• The speakers are hooked up correctly and not defective; I've tested them with the test tone feature.

Please Help! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MDS]

If what I've gathered from other threads I've read is true, all I really need in this case is the optical cable connected between the receiver and the 360, no? Is this not the case? I was led to believe that, once I did this, the receiver would automatically decode the digital signal and play audio, but absolutely nothing happens.

I've tried setting the correct digital input on the receiver (OPT1, or Optical 1, in this case), though I don't understand exactly why it matters if I'm not running anything, such as a DVD player, through the receiver to the TV. If someone could elaborate on this, I'd appreciate it.

The digital inputs are 'assignable' as opposed to say the red and white analog audio connections - connections like that that are in the 'DVD' section will only be active when you press the DVD input selector. With the digital inputs you have to tell the receiver 'when I select DVD, look for the audio at the digital input labeled Opt1'.

The XBox is the source of the audio so you must assign the digital input. If you want to hear that audio when you press Game/Sat (or whatever input selector you choose - it doesn't matter) you must press that input selector and then press and hold the Digital Input button until the display changes to show the assignments. Let the button go and then press it repeatedly (don't hold it down) until the display changes to Opt1. If the XBox is also configured to send digital output, that will do it.

 

[VGAce]

Yeah, that's what the manual said. I get how that works, but I don't understand how to actually associate a particular input with the Xbox 360, since all I've got hooked up to the receiver is the optical cable. There are inputs in the back for different devices/modes such as DVD, Video1/VCR, Video2, Video3, etc. but if I don't have any cables hooked up to these inputs, such as composite or component, I don't see how pressing the button for that particular "mode" and then switching between the optical/coaxial assocations will do anything involving the 360 (which it hasn't). Like I said earlier, I have the component cables hooked up (to the Video1 inputs), which I don't think does anything, but I tried what you said with the Video1 input anyway, and still nothing happens.

I get the logic in all the answers I've heard thus far. They just don't seem to be working for me is all. I hope I'm not being too terribly confusing. Do you have any idea what my problem could be?

 

[MDS]

The assignment simply tells the receiver where to look for the audio when you press a given input selector. You may have to go through all the input selectors and make sure there are no conflicts; ie both DVD and Video 1 set to Opt1.

Also check that when you press and hold the digital input button that it shows Auto.

All you should have to do is connect the optical cable from the XBox to Opt1 on the receiver and then choose any input selector and make sure it is assigned to Opt1. Get rid of the component video cables from the XBox to the receiver.

The fact that you can get audio using the analog connections kinda implies that the receiver's digital input is set to "---" or Auto and the only thing the XBox is sending is analog audio. Are you sure the XBox is configured to send digital audio?

 

[VGAce]

Are you sure the XBox is configured to send digital audio?

Yeah. I went to the Systems blade in the Dashboard, went to Console settings, went to Audio, went to Digital Output, and changed it to Dolby Digital 5.1. I'm not sure if it matters but the other two options were "Dolby Stereo" and "Dolby Digital WMA Pro" (any relation to Pro Logic II?)

I've gone to every input now: DVD, Video1/VCR, Video2, Video3, Tape, and CD and changed them all to associate with the correct optical input and set them all to AUTO. Still nothin'. The other options when I cycle through are "DTS" and "PCM," though I also doubt that fact really matters.

Do you think it might be the optical cable? I said it wasn't defective, but it fits really loose both in the Xbox 360 HD Pack as well as the receiver for the SR600 (but more so in the HD pack). Is that common for optical cables? The little shutter doors seem to be causing this, though I don't know for certain. I've accidentally knocked it out just by bumping it a couple times.

Have you ever heard of similar problems with the SR600 and Xbox 360, or any game console for that matter? This shouldn't be a hard thing, but damn if it is. I sure hope this isn't the cause of defective equipment because getting to the place of purchase for an exchange/refund takes a good hour and a half round trip. Aaaargh.

 

[MDS]

The most common error with optical cables seems to be forgetting to remove the little rubber tip on the cable. I don't know about the XBox but the Onkyo jacks will click when the cable is seated properly and are not so easy to pull out.

I've gone to every input now: DVD, Video1/VCR, Video2, Video3, Tape, and CD and changed them all to associate with the correct optical input and set them all to AUTO. Still nothin'. The other options when I cycle through are "DTS" and "PCM," though I also doubt that fact really matters.

Make sure only the one input selector you want to use for the XBox is assigned to Opt1. You want the input format to be Auto; the other options will only work if the input signal from the XBox is in that exact format. Auto tells it to identify the format and switch to the appropriate decoder. Auto should be the default anyway.

There has to be something weird going on, because trust me this is generally not so hard.

 

[Thunder18]

Just because you can see light though the optical cable does not mean that it is not defective. I had one go like that and for ages I thought something was wrong with one of my components until I finally decided to go buy a cheap optical cable at Fry's electronics and make sure. Turned out that it was the cable even though visually it seemed undamaged.

 

[VGAce]

The most common error with optical cables seems to be forgetting to remove the little rubber tip on the cable. I don't know about the XBox but the Onkyo jacks will click when the cable is seated properly and are not so easy to pull out.

AAAHHH! That MUST be it. There are translucent caps on the tips of the cables that I always thought looked like they needed to be removed, but there were no instructions with the cables. Being such a sensitive (and expensive) accessory, I didn't want to try anything I wasn't sure of. Now that I know they ARE supposed to be removed, I've done so, and the system works!

Amazing how the smallest, most miniscule detail can hault an entire operation. I feel like SUCH an idiot, but regardless, thank you SO much for taking the time to help me. Truly, you have no idea how frustrating this has been over the past couple of days, but you have helped alleviate that frustration and solved the problem. Again, thanks.

 

[MDS]

No problem at all...that is what we are here for. Don't feel so bad, you aren't the first to fall prey to the 'dust caps' that need to be removed even though there are no instructions to do so.

Thanks for sticking with me. Deep down I knew it couldn't be so hard.

 

[xanadu6]

Onkyo HT-sr600

I wasn't sure where to post this thread, but since I found something about the HT-SR600 here, I thought I might as well post another question about this item. I recently purchased this receiver. The only items I have going into it are 2 optical cables. 1 for my sattelite receiver and 1 for my DVD player. My question is, I know the receiver is supposed to detect automatically the digital source that is coming to it. When I play my DVD player it is not picking up that it is a dugital source. It's picking it up as a analog PCM source and then it is converting what it seems to me a 2 channel source into a 5.1 experience. If I'm correct in assuming this, this is not trues Digital 5.1 format. Why is this happening. The DVD's that I've put in there are all Dolby Digital. Help!!!!!!

 

[MDS]

The DVD player is set to output PCM instead of Bitstream and thus is decoding the DD and downmixing it to 2 channel PCM. Set the player to output Bitstream.

 

[xanadu6]

Thank you so much. How do I set it to Bitstream? Sorry, but I'm a novice at this kind of stuff.

 

[GlocksRock]

There should be an option for that in the audio section of the setup menu.

 

[xanadu6]

Thank you so much. This helps tremendously.

 

[KittyChan1]

Possible problem with setting up Onkyo HT-SR600?

Hi!

Came across this thread in the forum and thought that maybe someone can provide some suggestions or help?

Just purchased an Onkyo HT-SR600 and was setting it up for my parents...

The TV is standard definition, with only RF and RCA inputs. And I am trying to hook up a DVD player, DirectTV box, a VCR (...my parents have some home videos lying around that they like to watch now and then) and an Xbox 360 (this one isn't for the parents... )

We didn't connect everything right from the beginning because we wanted to make sure that each piece was working individually before adding it in...

We first tried setting up by connecting the front speakers (A-set) and the center speaker. And then we added in the DVD player via composite cables (I don't have any component cables at the moment, so everything is done via composite though I'll eventually pick up an optical cable for the Xbox 360) and tested successfully - sound came out from the two front speakers while in Stereo mode. We then slowly added the other components and verified that sound was working fine for everything...and that it sounded pretty nice, even without connecting the rest of the speakers and the subwoofer ^^;

And then we connected the surround rear speakers. We verified that the speakers were all connected and working via the "Test Tone" feature. But when we turned on the DVD player to test how speakers would work with a DVD... The front left speaker and the surround left speaker were the only ones that played any sound...

Any idea why that's the case? We didn't setup DVD player for surround, and we left the receiver setting at Stereo, so we expected only the two front speakers to work - not one front speaker and one rear speaker... We ended up playing around with the listening modes offered (like the various surround modes for games, music, etc), but it's always stuck at one front speaker/one rear speaker...

At this rate I might just unplug the two surround speakers altogether...having the two front speakers work would be preferable to having one front and one rear speaker working...

Any suggestions or input on what to do or what I should look at or what additional items I should pickup would be most appreciated, thanks~!!

 

[MDS]

And then we connected the surround rear speakers. We verified that the speakers were all connected and working via the "Test Tone" feature. But when we turned on the DVD player to test how speakers would work with a DVD... The front left speaker and the surround left speaker were the only ones that played any sound...

You need to verify that each speaker is connected to the correct speaker terminal on the receiver. A common mistake is to connect the side surrounds (for 5.1) to the rear surround terminals. You also mentioned that you used the A set of terminals. Make sure that the front speakers are both connected to A (not one to A and one to B) and that the speaker selection is A only (not A+B).

How is the audio from the DVD player connected to the receiver? I assume you are using analog cables. Make sure they are connected to the DVD player's L and R stereo output and the L and R input on the receiver and not to the inputs labeled Multi-Channel input.

 

[KittyChan1]

Hi, and thank you for taking the time to reply

The speakers are connected correctly (everything was even colour-coded and labeled nicely), +/- and such... And yes, the front speakers, both of them, are connected to A (the B connections are actually located a bit further away from everything else to avoid confusion).

And yes, I use composite cables to go from the audio output on my DVD player into the "DVD-in" input on the receiver, which is separate from the multichannel.

The one front, one rear speaker applies to everything I've connected to the receiver so far - DVD, DirectTV, VCR, Xbox360...