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I have a surround sound setup in direct mode in my office and in xbmc the dialog track only comes out of the center speaker. I have tested the files in media player classic and the audio sounds normal, but as soon as I play it in xbmc the dialog is quiet out of just the middle speaker and sounds/music is normal. I couldn't find any settings relating to this (what would be nice is a test surround sound button in XBMC). Ideas?
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That's how surround sound works. 95% of the dialogue comes from the centre. That's always been the case.
Since you didn't post ANY hardware of software specs, I can give a couple tips:
Many AVRs have a "widening" feature that allows you to put some of the dialogue channel through the left and right fronts. You can also disable the centre speaker, would force the centre channel to the left and right fronts.
Since you speak of a Direct mode, I assume this is done through a receiver. On a properly calibrated setup, Direct Mode often yeilds the best results, as it by-passes most circuitry that handles how the audio channels are output.
Most PC audio software that supports surround audio will allow you to raise and lower the volume coming from each speaker, or disable specific channels/speakers.
You can also manually set when XBMC uses for audio out channels in Setting - System - Audio Output. Choices are 2.0, 2.1, 3.0, 3.1, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 7.0, 7.1. Using 4.1 will disable teh center channel for you.
However, the center is specifically FOR the dialogue, and keeping it on really does make a tremendous difference and is how the audio is intended to be played. And heard. Ideally, the center should be pointing right at your head, and as close to level to your ears as possible.