and white phonos and relied on Dolby ProLogic II to provide me with surround sound in my games.When i first got the Xbox360 i had tried using an optical connection but it hadn't worked, i read a few reviews saying you have to buy microsoft's cable and so i gave up.
So a year later i was at a friends house and realised that the optical lead clicks into place, as it has to be perfectly aligned in order to receive the light signals.
I got home and plugged it in through my home surround sound system and the difference is amazing!
The sound is a lot sharper, it comes across crystal clear.
The difference with in game sound effects is huge. The Dolby PrologicII carried a stereo signal with some encoding allowing the surround sound decoder to produce some ambient background noise.
But the optical (Toslink) connection carries all 6 separate channels of audio. I tested this playing Rainbow6 Vegas in Co-op mode, and suddenly you can hear water dripping and air con fans blowing and as you run around the environment really changes around you.
The best bit is gunfire! It carries a separate channel to the sub speaker too, so big guns like the desert eagle provide a huge sound with a booming after effect. Suddenly you can realise why when you use big guns, the terrorist hear you coming, and when you use a silencer you really hear a difference.
The other effect it's worth mentioning is when you're being shot at. It actually makes it easier to respond to which direction the fire is coming from. As you hear thew gunfire from the right direction and then a split second afterwards you hear the bullets hit the wall behind you.
If you've got a 360 and an amp with an optical in, it's definitely worth hooking it up!
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