PS3/XBOX 360 Optical/HDMI to 3 x 3.5mm Jack

[Lord Nemesis]

What's the cheapest way to get 5.1 output from a PS3/XBOX360 to a 5.1 Speaker/Headphones with 3 x 3.5mm Jacks.

Both PS3 and XBOX 360 have digital 5.1 sound via optical/HDMI. I understand some sort of decoder would be necessary to separate out the channels and convert them to analog. What's the cheapest way to achieve this?

 

[TechHead]

http://www.techenclave.com/audio-zone/external-optical-to-5-1-converter-141063.html

2.0 only so far.

 

[Lord Nemesis]

After much research looking for decoder boxes, Tritton AXPro's decoder box seems to be the cheapest way to convert Optical to Analog 3 x 3.5mm at about $50~60 (considering the Headphones without the decoder, AX51 Pro cost about $90~100). The decoder box is not sold separately though.

The Sharkoon X-Tatic 5.1 Headphones also has the exact same decoder and it seems they they sell the decoder separately as the X-Tatic Sound Control Unit. I am not sure about the price though. Anyways they do not seem to be available in the US at all.

The only other option seems to be to get a full fledged receiver unit that costs more than the $150 that the AXPro's sell for.

 

[m-jeri]

^^^

Thats not worth the price

 

[Lord Nemesis]

Are you talking about the AXPro's? If so have you checked them out?

 

[muzux2]

Creative DDTS-100 Decoder will do the job, but i think its now a discontinued product. Check its availibility.