ldeveraux wrote:
I see banding in my XBOX's generic component cable. What is the recommended cable to buy these days? The original Hi-Def kit, or something that can be had cheaper?
The
XOSVP is the thing to get (
also comes in kit form). Potential downsides are that it seems to be perpetually sold out (As in every time I've visited the store page, it's been unavailable), and it only offers TOSLINK for audio, so you'd need a TOSLINK to stereo RCA adapter if you wanted analogue audio from it.
Failing that, I would recommend tracking down a Microsoft-branded Xbox HD AV Pack (Not to be confused with the Advanced AV Pack, which only has composite and S-Video), either the breakout box or the far-rarer cable version. Compared to the XOSVP, they're more expensive, due to their increasing rarity, and they offer both TOSLINK and analogue audio output instead of just the TOSLINK on the XOSVP. I've read that the original cables kind of suck (easily remedied) and that they don't provide a perfect image, but I haven't seen any photographic comparisons to back up either of those claims.
I've had one of the HD AV Packs for a few years now, and the only complaint I might have is the bulk the breakout box adds (probably about the size of an Xbox 360 external PSU, if it had a bunch of AV cables coming out the side of it). If you decide to go shopping on eBay for one of these, get a good look at the photographs; when I was looking for one, I saw one or two that were not properly cared for, and had
rust on the connector shrouds. Also, don't be afraid to buy one without the original cables; it's pretty easy to get a 5x RCA component + stereo cable from places like Amazon and Monoprice (although Monoprice's cables, weirdly, have left and right audio on complete opposite ends of the cable for some reason).
Finally, you might be interested in the Pound HDMI cable for the Xbox. From what I've seen, it's a good-enough solution for most people who want to go straight to HDMI, and it's cheap. The downsides, as I understand them, are that it doesn't do any video filtering, so whatever noisy output from the console will be present; and, it digitizes the analogue stereo instead of using the S/PDIF audio, so you won't get 5.1 surround, if that's important to you (It is to me).