Quick question about 5.1 AC3 decoding and voices coming from only the center channel

[jellysandwich]

Is this normal? I always thought that voices should come out
from the front 3 (L, C, R)...

I noticed this happens when watching both my dvd backups and dvds/blurays on my ps3.

I'm using a freshly formatted computer with MPC + ffdshow, if it matters.

[linyx]

I believe that is completely normal.

[dat720]

Generally dialog should come out of the center channel as the camera is usually pointed at the person speaking, so that's where the dialog should come from, it would not sound natural if the voices were also coming from either side of you, the center channel's job is to create the impression of 3d sound, to help your brain 'position' the dialog/effect's.