VLC remixing audio tracks
On VLC MacOS (3.0.17) I have a weird and annoying behaviour when outputting audio via HDMI. VLC seems to take the liberty to remix the audio tracks to try to match the audio output settings (set in Audio and Midi settings on MacOS), but does so quite badly. For instance, I had stereo files that VLC remixed to a one-channel center mix when the output was set to 5.1 (it played correctly as stereo when the system was set to 2.0). Another 5.1 file completely missed two surround channels when my system was wrongly set to 8.1. I also had stereo files output as 5.1 with L and R OK, but doubled on surround-L and surround-R! My system is 5.1, so that means that currently only 5.1 files play correctly. Any other type of audio mix has an unpredictable output. All the files play fine with Quicktime or MPV, for instance, with the same system settings.
I looked in the preferences, tried several things, but could not find a way to prevent VLC from undesired remixing. Any guidance to find the appropriate settings or any explanation as to why it is behaving like this would be welcome!