Xbox 360 audio issues...

[Hi Ho]

I have an Xbox 360 from the 2008 era, one of the early HDMI models. I have been using it in my current setup for over two years without issues. It is connected via HDMI through a Monoprice 4x2 matrix switcher to my Yamaha RX-V2700.

About two weeks ago it started defaulting to 2ch stereo output EVERY SINGLE TIME I turn it on and that's all I get in games and Netflix unless I go into the console settings and change the digital output from Dolby Digital to Stereo and back to Dolby Digital. This fixes it until I turn it off again. I have disabled display discovery hoping that would prevent some sort of HDMI quirkiness but it still does it.

does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? It is very annoying since, in order to go into console settings, I must quit Netflix or the game I'm playing when I inevitably forget to change the setting before I start playing.

 

[Adam]

Was there a software update around that time?

I did a quick search and there was a thread on AVS about the Xbox 360 reverting to stereo (different issue than yours, though, because yours was working). The recommended solution was to run the audio through an optical cable. If you can't get yours working again, and you can connect it up that way, that's an option.

 

[BMXTRIX]

HDMI has EDID embedded which can't typically be ignored.

If you have two devices hooked into the matrix switcher, what are they? If one is a 'stereo' source, then the matrix may, by default, force the lowest common denominator for audio. This is not something which can typically be bypassed and is actually very surprising that it has worked up to this point as expected as it goes against typical EDID requirements.

So - Xbox into Matrix, then output 1 of matrix to ??? and output 2 of matrix to ???. Fill in the blanks.

If one of your outputs is to a display which only accepts a stereo input, then you may want to get a box like this which should allow you to force all audio formats despite the display only allowing for stereo audio...

HDMI® Audio Converter - Monoprice.com

Of course, if you use the speakers on that display, it won't work because the display itself doesn't support surround audio formats.

 

[Hi Ho]

Thank you for the reply Adam and BMXTRIX. Adam. I do have one of THESE adapters from Monoprice that will allow me to connect HDMI + Optical, something that is not normally possible with the Xbox. I will try it.

BMX. I have one output of the matrix connected to the receiver and the other to a Panasonic plasma in my bedroom. You are correct that the EDID info will override any settings I make. However, I found that I could easily work around it. I found that the audio would revert to stereo if both outputs were set to the same source on startup. Example: I watch TV through my DVR in my bedroom at night. The next day I power on the main system in the living room and get only stereo audio because the DVR reverts to stereo to match the bedroom TV. The workaround is to program my universal remote macro to set the bedroom output to any device other than the one I want to watch in the living room. So, when I select "Dish" in the living room the first step in the macro switches the bedroom output on the matrix to an input other than the DVR. I now get 5.1 audio. This works 100% of the time on every source except now the Xbox as of a couple weeks ago.

Disabling "Display discovery" in the Xbox would, at least in the past, completely override EDID to the point where disabling it and setting the output to Dolby Digital meant the bedroom TV would not get any sound. Something has changed and it may well be a software update that caused it but it seems odd that I can't seem to find anyone else with the same issue.