2ch stereo downmixing sucks...!?

I watch a lot of video files that have audio encoded in AC-3 (6 channel) format via my TV with just the 2-channel TV speakers. Generally I've noticed that the XBMC audio down-mixing seems to suck. Specifically dialogue in films is generally way too low vs "action", and "music" moments. I would expect there to be relatively standard down-mixing that should make everything well balanced into 2-ch stereo speakers... Is there anything I might be doing wrong?

Without getting into your issue, I will note that XBMC that has the audio engine totally reworked and people are raving about it, it's available in the latest 'nightly downloads' and will be available in the next stable version.

See nightly builds and monthly builds. The monthly one should be (in theory) more stable than the nightly one.

You can try the setting "Boost level on downmix" but that's not really the issue. There's some DSPs coming including dynamic range compression which is more likely to help with that. If you're on Win7 there's a built-in DRC in your audio device properties called "Loudness Correction" on the Advanced tab.

I have the same problem. When downmixing to 2.0, dialogues too low compared to "action" moments.

Edit: loudness correction works only when i start playing a movie, minimize to tray and set it when movie playing, but when i pause or stop the movie, xbmc overrides this setting, but if i untick the setting and tick again and press apply, then it works again.