I just had a friend give me his XBOX 360 (Awesome, I know). I am not sure if it is a core or a premium but I know it is not an Elite ( but I can't complain, it was free ) so I am wondering what is the best cord and way to hook it up to get the best quality picture and audio through my Onkyo 604 to my 720p HDTV...? Thanks AVS!!!

-ShockEm

P.S. I'm pretty darn excited.

I run component and the picture is fantastic. Use an Optical audio cable for your audio.

If the DVD tray door is shiny chrome, then you have a premium.

Any specific brand of cable to run into the A/V receiver?

The supplied Microsoft component cable is what I'm using. If yours doesn't have it, I'm sure you can find one at BB or Gamestop/EBgames. An optical cable from monoprice.com will do the trick for the digital audio connection.

For video, I personally prefer the VGA connection. It has all the benefits of component and it also allows DVD upscaling.

For audio, the best on any non-Elite 360 would be optical output.

Be sure to get the latest 360 update. It offers a fix for better a color palet through VGA. The update also addresses HD-DVD audio to output 1.5 DTS Mbps.

VGA Cable (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000CEO8ZM******ord_cart_shr/104-4190151-9153555?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3LJ5WMKNRFKQS&v=glance)

Will this take care of my HD Video (through the VGA) and HD Audio (through the optical)?

My TV does have a VGA port.

VGA Cable (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000CEO8ZM******ord_cart_shr/104-4190151-9153555?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3LJ5WMKNRFKQS&v=glance)

Will this take care of my HD Video (through the VGA) and HD Audio (through the optical)?

My TV does have a VGA port.

The link isn't working. Get the Microsoft brand VGA, which is on Amazon for about $14 used. That will work fine, though you should definitely make sure that your Xbox has the latest updates.

Well the guy just dropped it off and its has the HD componet cables with it so I'm just gonna save the money and just get the optical cord for the audio.

O and it was a prememium... Sweet!

Any suggestions to making it black? Skins? Paint?

Well the guy just dropped it off and its has the HD componet cables with it so I'm just gonna save the money and just get the optical cord for the audio.

O and it was a prememium... Sweet!

Any suggestions to making it black? Skins? Paint?

Painting would probably void the warranty (if it still has one), which is not a good idea.

Be sure to get the latest 360 update. The update also addresses HD-DVD audio to output 1.5 DTS Mbps.

Can you please point out where I find DTS? My receiver supports DTS and I'd like to give it a try. I've looked in Console Settings ---> Audio and all that's there is Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby with WMV 9 or something like that. I've even looked while there was an HDDVD in the player and still can't find it.

Thanks