A followup now that I've incorporated DL (full bandwith) into the 3800:
In order of room correction preference (from "best" to "worst").
1) Pioneer SC-LC701 w/MCACC (prior receiver) - this had the most detail and punch when everything was tuned in.
2) Denon 3800 (current receiver) w/Audyssey calbrated w/$20 app - punch is there but lacking in detail compared to above.
3) Denon 3800 (current receiver) w/Dirac Live Full Bandwith (no DLBC) - lacking in midbass w/the trade-off of more intelligible dialogue and vocals. Musicality appears to be better w/Dirac.
At this point, I'm cutting my losses and refusing to purchase DLBC. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have purchased the RZ70/805 as that would have been closer to the quality in my prior 701 AVR. I was never a SINAD/DAC chaser but I'm starting to believe that my disappointing 3800 performance has to do with a downgrade in hardware. If you see the attached DAC datasheet from my older 701, it did appear to spec better than the current 3800 DAC.
If interested in my Dirac curves, you can find them in this thread:
My first attempt at Dirac this morning (on the 3800)
So I found some quiet time to finally incorporate DL (full bandwith) into my 3800. Here are the steps I took: 1) Installed DL onto my Windows 10 laptop. The software found my 3800 on the network and I selected it. 2) I attached the UMIK1 to the laptop and proceeded to download the 90 deg...www.audiosciencereview.com
Note that if I wasn't coming from the 701, then the 3800 would have been "good enough". You are definitely getting less for more these days!
if I remember correctly, SC-L701 is another level above where x3800 is situated now.
You get what you pay for. And you would pay a lot back at when SC-L701 came out and is a great receiver.