DVE or Avia

[fishnugget]

Which is better to use to calibrate and get best results out of system? I am a newbie and have no clue?

 

[majorloser]

Digital Video Essentials works quite well. It's just a little harder to navigate through than the Avia. But it's also about 1/2 half the price.

 

[xboxweasel]

I got both. They were pretty cheap for what you get. I paid less than $100 new for both. I found buying them only was cheaper than trying to find them in stores. Most stores could order them but never carried stock.

I will eventually make better (read bigger and sturdier) colour filters.

I have used both. Mainly for video calibration. For the sound portion I have always used my receivers auto calibrate mode. Which I would then double check with a SPL meter and a tape measure.

 

[fishnugget]

would

you recommend one over another

 

[xboxweasel]

Like majorloser said, DVE is half the price. I persoanly do not prefer one over the other. I might be wrong, but I think both only support 5.1 (not 6.1 or 7.1) when setting up your audio.

I'll go play around with them and I'll get back to you.

 

[xboxweasel]

I only spent 5-10 minutes going through the DVDs.

AVIA
Starts of from the very basics. Tells you how to use a SPL meter (specifically the Radio Shack model). The colour filters are loose pieces of plastic. The DVD only supports 5.1 audio. I found the menus a lot easier to navigate than on the DVE disc. Costs twice as much as DVE.

DVA
Disc comes from a 1080p master. Better video quality. The video filters are supported in a cardboard holder. Supports 6.1 audio. I think it is a little more advanced in the topics it gets into. Cheaper of the two.

I did not get into the audio test tones. But I think DVE is the more difficult one to use.

Any input from other forum members?

Depending on your level of experience I'd say pay the extra and get Avia Guide to Home Theater. On amazon.com you can buy used copies. Or you can buy both and save (versus buying them seperately).

 

[Ethan Winer]

> Any input from other forum members? <

I have DVE only, but I'll clarify what I like about its audio calibration feature to balance speaker volumes. DVE uses filtered pink noise, which is an excellent signal source for this purpose. Sine waves are not useful for speaker volume calibration because they're very position sensitive, and moving the microphone even half an inch can create a large change in what's measured. Plain pink noise is much better than steady tones, but it's still not as good as the filtered noise DVE uses. Filtering makes the tests less sensitive to a speaker's poorer off-axis frequency response at the highest frequencies.

--Ethan

 

[xboxweasel]

Ethan,
Do the test tones in DVE come from more than 1 speaker? For example: if I select the front left speaker via the menu does to test tone come out from the left surround, the left front, and the centre at the same time (the the front left being the loudest)? I thought one of these DVDs did that but I cannot remember which one.

 

[MDS]

Do the test tones in DVE come from more than 1 speaker? For example: if I select the front left speaker via the menu does to test tone come out from the left surround, the left front, and the centre at the same time (the the front left being the loudest)? I thought one of these DVDs did that but I cannot remember which one.

No, the tone only comes out of the selected channel. I think what you are referring to is the difference between the two discs when calibrating the subwoofer channel. With DVE, the tone is played only by the subwoofer. With AVIA, the tone is played by the mains and the subwoofer.

 

[xboxweasel]

Has anyone every compared using either AVIA or DVE and the auto calibration with a receiver (ei: Yamaha YPAO)? Which method is better?

Do Denon receiver come with something similar? What is it called?

 

[MDS]

The main thing to remember about DVE vs AVIA vs receiver internal test tones is the level of the tones. DVE and receiver test tones are at -30 dB whereas the AVIA test tones are at -20 dB.

So you have to be careful when you see blanket statements like 'calibrate so the meter reads 75 dB'. If you use DVE or receiver test tones and calibrate to 75 dB, you will have Dolby Reference Level of 105 dB (75 + 30 = 105), but if you use AVIA and calibrate to 75 dB you will actually be 10 dB below reference level because the test tones were 10 dB hotter to begin with.

I don't know about differences between the composition of the pink noise used by each (they are supposed to be full bandwidth pink noise) but if Ethan says DVE's test tones are filtered differently, there is a very high probability that it is true.

 

[Ethan Winer]

> Do the test tones in DVE come from more than 1 speaker? <

Again, the signal source is filtered pink noise. DVD Essentials plays it through the front left only, then the front left and center together, then center only, then center and front right, and so forth around the room. When I calibrate my system I use only the individual channels and skip the parts where it plays through two speakers at once.

--Ethan

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

Out of interest, is there a PAL version of Avia anywhere ? How would one calibrate a display that is region 2 ?

Thanks.

--Sincerely,

 

[xboxweasel]

DVE does offer PAL versions of their DVD. I am not too sure about AVIA.

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

So are you saying that DVE has both PAL and NTSC test signals ? Or are you trying to tell me that there are two different versions of DVE out for use with PAL ?

So far, everything I've read about DVE is that it's a bit of a slep to use in comparison to Avia. Does DVE offer a test to confirm whether the subwoofer is in phase with the main speakers ?

Thanks.

--Sincerely,

 

[majorloser]

There are two different versions of DVE:

http://www.videoessentials.com/DVEPro.php

(Actually four versions if you count the Pro versions)

 

[xboxweasel]

So are you saying that DVE has both PAL and NTSC test signals ? Or are you trying to tell me that there are two different versions of DVE out for use with PAL ?

You have to buy either the PAL or NTSC version.

So far, everything I've read about DVE is that it's a bit of a slep to use in comparison to Avia. Does DVE offer a test to confirm whether the subwoofer is in phase with the main speakers ?

I just looked and I cannot find a subwoofer phase test with the DVE disc. AVIA does not come with that test either. Only for the 5 speakers does AVIA offer phase test tones.

And like I said, AVIA is much easier to navigate.

 

[majorloser]

DVE does supply test tones for the subwoofer.

EDIT: Had to pull the disc out and read the booklet. Titles 8, 9 & 10 are the audio sections. They include audio test for 5.1 & 6.1 Dolby and DTS audio. There is chapters for LFE in each and whole section on bass management in title 10. There is a chapter in title 10 that has a 15Hz tp 150Hz sweep for all of the channels and the LFE individually. That'll shake the house.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I just looked and I cannot find a subwoofer phase test with the DVE disc. AVIA does not come with that test either. Only for the 5 speakers does AVIA offer phase test tones.

And like I said, AVIA is much easier to navigate.

I might be mistaken, but I thought my AVIA disc had a subwoofer to each speaker phase test. I definately remember a sub sweep for each channel and lots of phasing between individual speakers. I'll have to check it out later to make sure.

Jack

 

[xboxweasel]

There are subwoofer test tones but not subwoofer to "x" speaker phase tests. That is what Vaughan Odendaa was asking for.