Lots of people think DSP is hard, mostly because they learned DSP in college from professors who only understand it from a mathematical perspective. I learned DSP by myself in real world applications. Consequently I understand DSP intuitively and grasp far more of its potential than nearly anyone out there. See what I mean by reviewing this page (opens a new window) then read some of my articles. I think you'll see the difference.
We normally use DSP to test analog devices. Signal to Noise measurements, stereo separation, DAC and ADC linearity, all kinds of stuff. The one device you don't use DSP to test? A DSP chip! These are usually pure digital, so you just run a lot of patterns to verify functionality.