Can I hook a 3.5mm jack to the USB ports on the Xbox 360 to receive sound?

Would it be possible, with some type of wiring, to hook a 3.5mm jack to the USB ports on the Xbox and receive in-game sound?

Solution 1:

No

A headphone connected through a 3.5mm jack is expecting an analog signal. The USB port sends a digital signal and needs to talk through the USB protocol. As mentioned on a different answer, a few companies make converters to handle this for you. I'm also partial to Turtle Beach.

Solution 2:

How about picking up a cable like this Xbox 360 VGA HD AV Cable and an RCA to 3.5mm adapter for the audio?

Solution 3:

Creative Labs recently release the first commercial external sound card for all 3 major consoles called Recon3D. It is very expensive at over $100 USD, but it is packed full of technology to improve the sound output. It is a very good solution but damn it's expensive.