Xbox, 5.1, and a Computer Monitor. Any Advice?

[ZachFeen]

Okay, so since it's around Christmas time, I'd like to purchase an Xbox. TV monitors are a little bit out of my price range, and I'm considering buying a PC Monitor to save a little cash. The monitor I'm looking at has an HDMI port and a cable included, and can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/VS228H-P-21-5-.../dp/B005BZNDOO. Now I'm also going to buy a Razer Chimera 5.1 Headset to hook up to the Xbox aswell. With HDMI, I'm pretty sure you can't get 5.1 Surround Sound, so I'd like to know how. Any help would be appreciated, hopefully get this setup mapped out soon. What do I need to connect the Xbox to the PC Monitor, and what do I need to get the 5.1 Surround Sound to the headset? Thanks!

 

[Atomic Playboy]

The Razer Chimaera headset hooks directly into the Xbox 360 and outputs 5.1 natively, so you wouldn't be passing any audio over HDMI, just the video signal. That means that any monitor with an HDMI input will work for your purposes. 21.5" is really small for gaming though; is this going to be on a desk directly in front of you (as computer monitors generally are meant to be used)?

 

[ZachFeen]

Yes, I will be sitting on my desk while playing, so it shouldn't be too small. Also, I watched a few videos, and I think this is how it would work: Fiber Optic Cable from the Xbox 360 to the Razer Chimera, HDMI from the Xbox to the monitor. From the looks of the new Xbox 360 which is now slimmer, I've heard it has a separate Fiber Optic port which shouldn't disturb the HDMI Cable if I'm correct. Could you confirm this? Thanks!

 

[Atomic Playboy]

According to the instructions on Razer's webpage, you connect the Chimaera directly to the Xbox 360 via Toslink Optical cable. The Xbox 360 Slim does indeed include this port, so you're covered there.

 

[ZachFeen]

The Xbox is able to connect to a monitor via HDMI, correct? So my entire setup would work with 5.1 Surround Sound and connecting the Xbox to the monitor?

 

[Atomic Playboy]

The Xbox is able to connect to a monitor via HDMI, correct? So my entire setup would work with 5.1 Surround Sound and connecting the Xbox to the monitor?

That is correct. You might have to go into the Xbox output options to select outputting the audio over toslink as opposed to HDMI, but I think if the 360 detects plugs in both, it defaults to video over the HDMI cable and audio over the toslink cable (which is what you want). Regardless, the Chimaera is specifically designed to work with the Xbox 360 while video is being output over HDMI, so you shouldn't have any troubles there.

 

[ZachFeen]

Thanks for your help, just wanted to make sure this would work before I actually went out and purchased it. Thanks!