Am I the only one who finds DVE ridiculously hard to navigate? I just tried to calibrate my dad's system for him (before I do mine) and I just got confused and more confused and more confused...

First off, the intro to the disc is way too damn long and full of redundannt info for the already knowledgeable AV enthusiast. Second, the navigation controls and buttons are just baffling. So when I skipped past a section or got kicked out of a section and was sent to the "navigation menu" I had no idea where to go next. I kept being sent back to the original screen that pissed me off in the first place. The damn voice kept telling me to just follow the prompts, but they never helped!

I finally figure out how to skip the crap and get the audio calibration section and then my Denon AVR takes a crap and goes into "analog only" mode and I can't get it back to digital. Even before that I couldn't figure out how to raise my speaker levels either. I initially calibrated the system using the internal test tones in the reciever (so I know it works) but I can't remember (or figure out) how I did it in the first place.

So basically, are there any Denon AVR + DVE user's out there who can offer any tips? Is there a DVE for dummies and Denon's? I must admit this is the first time I've been stumped by a piece of audio equipment or software. I'm only 21 and I swear I've sprouted a few gray hairs over the last hour.

Yeah, the DVE navigation sucks. The trick is to always go by title. Since most DVD players I've encountered don't have a title button (surprise!) you have to do a search. Then press several buttons to get into search mode. I haven't encountered the Analog thing you speak of, but I've only calibrated one Denon.

Ah, the joys of Denon manuals. They take a dedication to reading… and re-reading… and re-reading the manual that’s a stretch even for engineers who do it everyday for their jobs.

Look at page 44 of your Denon 1804/884 owner’s manual at the beginning of chapter 14 on Surround. They list a way to adjust your individual speaker levels that does not require the test tone to play from the setup menu. Don’t ask me why this isn’t in the same section as the setup menu. Hopefully, this will work for you. I can’t quite remember how I handled this with my AVIA disk. I’d recommend checking your settings in the test tone menu after you finish the adjustments. I recall trying to ascertain whether my system had different settings for each surround sound mode, but… I can’t remember my results unfortunately.

If your manual has “taken a hike” or been shredded in retribution for its failure to talk. Denon has a pdf you can down load on their website.

I’m not sure what to suggest on the “analog only” problem. I assume it’s more than just changing the setting as mentioned on page 38 of the manual.

Thanks for the suggestion Montclair. I will dig out the manual and give it a look. For some reason I expected DVE to spend less time telling me about technologies on the horizon and more time telling me how to operate my equipment to coincide with their method. Boy was I wrong.