Avia vs. Digital Video Essentials

[paul_pci]

What are your experiences with either/both of these calibrations discs, especially in useablity and ease of use. The reviews on Amazon, for instance make the DVE seem like a nightmare to use/navigate and with little to no instruction of what to do with the tests it runs, whereas, the reviews for Avia seem more glowing for the most part. I just don't want to buy a disc and have it become a nightmare because it's impossible to use or where there's no explanation of what to do with these tests. I have a CRT, so I'm mostly concerned about the audio tests. And then, thinking in terms of common sense (or maybe my lack thereof), what is the point of having multiple audio tests. If you calibrate the levels of your speakers' output accordingly to one test tone and then another test tone shows them outta wack, then what? you recalibrate for that particular test. Multiple tests, on the face of it, don't make much sense to me.

Secondly, and related, I got an SPL meter today. I used the THX optimizer test tone on a THX DVD (hence why I want a calibration disc) and I proceeded to calibrate the 5 channels through the digital output. And I was pretty happy with the outcome. Now, when I switched to the 6-channel output (which I use for DVD-Audio), I got completely different readings. For instance, the rears were much louder than with the digital output readigs. What's up with that? I have a Yamaha RX-V3300, if that makes a difference.

Thanks for your insights.

[Woochifer]

If the audio tests are your main priority, then go with DVE. Avia was last updated in 1999, and it does not include tests for DTS, or 6.1 audio. Plus, at $40 it costs $15 more than DVE. (Avia Pro is more up-to-date, but it's also an eight disc monstrosity more geared to professional installers that costs $400.)

You're right though about the navigation with DVE -- it's a nightmare. And the tutorials are okay at best. But, it is feature packed and a powerful tool once you get familiarized with it, especially on the video side. Plus, it was last updated only about a year ago, so it is current.

However, if you've never owned a calibration disc before, I would actually suggest the Sound & Vision Home Theater Setup DVD. It's made by Ovation Software (who also produce the Avia discs), and it includes DTS and 6.1 audio tests, easy to decipher tutorials, and some cool extras (DD and THX trailers plus DTS sound demos). Its only drawback is that the video tests only use one blue filter, which does not necessarily account for the greater variety of adjustments that newer HDTVs might have available (I use an older analog TV, so it works fine for me). But, for $20 it's a worthwhile starter set.

One other note, forget about the THX Optimizer tests. I've tried using them before and they are just flat out wrong, at least on the audio side. Worse yet, they vary from DVD to DVD. Once I recalibrated my audio levels to the THX Optimizer settings, and they shifted the entire soundfield into one direction. And later on, I found out that another DVD I had with the THX Optimizer gave me an entirely different set of readings. The results that I obtained by calibrating my system to the receiver's tone generator and with the S&V disc just sounded more consistently correct than the THX Optimizer did.

If you're trying to get consistent audio level outputs between the analog and digital connections, you only need to make sure that the channel balances sound consistent. If one's louder than the other, it doesn't matter so long as the individual channels measure identically from your listening position. It's no big deal if you have to adjust the volume when switching between digital and analog sources. Your DVD-A player should have its own set of level adjustments for the six-channel analog output. Use those to match up with the level adjustments that you make for the digital audio.

[paul_pci]

Thanks Wooch for your detailed response. Yeah, the problem between analog and digital on my system is not just volume, the channels are outta balance, especially between the rears (polks) and the fronts (B&Ws). I might start with Sound and Vision and move my way to DVE. Even though I just have a CRT, I'm going to be calibrating my father's two RP sets.

[Woochifer]

Thanks Wooch for your detailed response. Yeah, the problem between analog and digital on my system is not just volume, the channels are outta balance, especially between the rears (polks) and the fronts (B&Ws). I might start with Sound and Vision and move my way to DVE. Even though I just have a CRT, I'm going to be calibrating my father's two RP sets.

Sounds to me like you need to adjust the levels for your DVD-A player if the balances are different between analog and digital. The B&Ws and Polks might have different sensitivity levels, and your room acoustics will also affect how the channel levels balance out. But, the first step is to adjust the settings on your DVD-A player so that the balances match what the digital output gives you.