I just finished putting in new speaker wire and all new cables for a Onkyo HT-SR800 system connected to a Xbox 360, VCR & HDTV. I started playing some xbox 360, and the sound was routed from the 360 to the TV via stereo composites, and back from the TV to the receiver via toslink. (it should have been set to go from 360 directly to receiver via toslink, but i had the wrong input selected on the receiver)

After a little while I suddenly got this very fast "snare drum" type sound coming from the R front speaker. I quickly turned off the receiver & xbox360, and when I turned them on the sound was gone. However, there was no sound coming from the R front at all. I tried changing inputs and found that when I switched to direct toslink-->receiver from 360, I still got sound from the R front, and I still got sound when I tuned OTA HDTV and the TV was outputting sound to the receiver via toslink. However, I did NOT get sound when I had the TV outputting sound to the receiver via toslink that it had received via composites from the 360 or the VCR. About 5-10 mins later, I started getting sound on all inputs again.

Any idea what's going on here? The whole SR800 system is new to me so I'm a bit puzzled...

I should mention that I've had problems with the 360 before, with audio cutting out (even before I had the SR800 and was just using TV speakers). Is it possible the 360 output this messed up "drumming" sound and the TV's audio circuitry shut itself off for safety for 10 mins?

Well, could someone tell me if there's any way some kind of audio equipment error could produce a fast "thudding"/"drumming" sound? Can I be sure that it originated from the xbox and not the receiver etc?

It could be a bad digital audio signal that you are sending to the receiver or a problem with the decoder in your receiver. You need to make sure you have your receiver set for the proper digital signal you are sending it. PCM, Dolby digital, etc. If this is not set properly you can get a rapid drumbeat. Some receivers mute when the signal isn't recognized. First thing to do is to see what kind of signal you are sending from your various boxes and then make sure your receiver is set to decode that type of signal.

..Doyle

Thanks - it was sending the appropriate signal since I was getting normal audio for quite a bit of time before the thudding started (the thudding was only on the front R channel as far as I could tell). Since I put new toslink cables in, I wonder they could be the culprit? I bought all cables from monoprice.com, but I hadn't heard of problems about their products?

OK, after rereading your first post, I think I see what you are saying. You are trying to send your Xbox signal to your TV with RCA cables and then have your TV encode that sound and send it back to your receiver via TOSLink. I don't know of any TV that will do that. Unless your TV specifically states that it has the ability to encode an external signal to a digital signal I think that is your problem. The proper way to connect is to have all audio going directly to your receiver whether it is digital via TOS or Coax or Analog via RCA cables. The only signal your TV can send via TOS would be from its own TV receiver. I suppose it could have a digital pass through but would have to know the make and model and check a manual.

..Doyle

..Doyle