What is the finest-sounding DT album? (pick two)

[Perpetual Change]

We talk so often about sound, so what albums are your favorite sounding?
In my opinion, there are only a few great sounding ones, and those are Images and FII. Outside of that, I really think Six Degrees sounds good.
Octavarium and Awake were great stylistically, but could have been better in execution. Octavarium's organic sound would be great if it weren't so compressed. Awakw's darker, stripped-down aesthetic would be great if the heavier parts didn't occasionally sound dry and lifeless.

[Lucien]

FII and 8VM.

[BlobVanDam]

FII and SDOIT are by far the best imo, so I'm glad you let us choose two options!

IaW is a great mix with very little compression, and definitely one of the better ones, but since I listen to so much music from the era that sounds amazing, I'm probably a bit harder on that one.

[hefdaddy42]

FII and SDOIT are by far the best imo, so I'm glad you let us choose two options!

IaW is a great mix with very little compression, and definitely one of the better ones, but since I listen to so much music from the era that sounds amazing, I'm probably a bit harder on that one.

I agree with Blob 100%.

[KevShmev]

Tough call between I&W, Awake and FII, all of which sound fantastic on a real stereo.  I went with the former two.  6DOIT sounds really good, too, but not quite as good as those.

Anyone who votes for WDADU, SFAM, TOT or ADTOE should go to an ear doctor immediately.

[?]

Voted for FII and Six Degrees, but Awake deserves an honorable mention.

[BlobVanDam]

FII and SDOIT are by far the best imo, so I'm glad you let us choose two options!

IaW is a great mix with very little compression, and definitely one of the better ones, but since I listen to so much music from the era that sounds amazing, I'm probably a bit harder on that one.

I agree with Blob 100%.

That's because I'm correct.

If I had to rank the albums based solely on how they "sound", it would be roughly something like-

Six Degrees / Falling into Infinity
Images and Words / Awake

Octavarium
Scenes from a Memory
Train of Thought
Systematic Chaos
Black Clouds
A Dramatic Turn of Events
WDADU

[JayOctavarium]

Went with FII and TOT.


FII because it does sound the best

and TOT because I personally enjoy the way the record sounds. 6 Degrees comes in right behind TOT.

[krands85]

Images and FII

[aprilethereal]

Awake and Six Degrees

[nikatapi]

Awake and FII. Although i also like I&W dynamic mix and SDOIT (which is a bit over compressed but still good sounding).
After TOT it's been downhill so far.

[Another_Won]

Can we include the SE version of SC with the 5.1 mix?

[Ruba]

Falling into Infinity and 6DOIT.

[Dellers]

Falling Into Infinity. To be honest I think DT sound significantly less good than average on most albums, but this one is truly great sounding. If every album afterwards sounded like that as well they would be in the same league as Earth, Wind & Fire when it comes to good sounding records.

[Thematt202]

I don't get the shitty production thing with SC/BCaSL.  Can someone explain the problem with examples of what clipping etc. actually sounds like (which songs/bars etc). 

[OsMosis2259]

FII and Six Degrees are probably the most "crisp clear" sounding.

I do like the unique sound on Octavarium a lot as well.

[Mister Gold]

Definitely Falling Into Infinity and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

[Lolzeez]

FII and SDOIT are by far the best imo, so I'm glad you let us choose two options!

IaW is a great mix with very little compression, and definitely one of the better ones, but since I listen to so much music from the era that sounds amazing, I'm probably a bit harder on that one.

[Jaffa]

FII and SDOIT are by far the best imo, so I'm glad you let us choose two options!

Gotta go with Blob on this one.

[Kotowboy]

FII and Six Degrees are probably the most "crisp clear" sounding.

I do like the unique sound on Octavarium a lot as well.

They're my top 3 for well produced DT albums.

4th is a toss up between Scenes / Images And Words / Awake

[wolfking]

Awake and FII.

[Unlegit]

Images and Words and Six Degrees, with Falling into Infinity very close behind.

[Infinite Cactus]

I went with FII and Awake.

[Daso]

SFaM and SDoIT get my vote, with FII being rather close.

[jammindude]

As luke warm as I am on FII as an album...I have to admit that the sound on it is absolutely top-notch.  That is probably THE best sounding DT album.

For me Awake comes in 2nd....SDOIT was the beginning of when DT started to make things just a little bit too "overdriven"...

[nicmos]

Awake and FII. Although i also like I&W dynamic mix and SDOIT (which is a bit over compressed but still good sounding).
After TOT it's been downhill so far.

Bingo.

[TheGreatPretender]

I voted SDOIT and ToT. Falling Into Infinity is well produced, but I didn't like the guitar tone on it.

ToT and 8VM are more or less interchangeable for me, but I just went with ToT because it's more consistent, I thought.

[Zydar]

FII and Awake.

[kirksnosehair]

I love how I&W sounds with the only exception being the triggered drums.  I would have preferred a more natural sounding snare.


But my favorite album in terms of production values has to go to Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

[Dublagent66]

Awake
SDOIT

[zepp-head]

Personally I like 6 Degrees and Awake best.

SFAM is by far the sloppiest production-wise, though not the worst sounding.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

SDOIT and FII. Easily.

[PixelDream]

Went with FII and 6DOIT. I&W and Awake sound great as well, each different but really adequate for both styles of production.

Too bad indeed DT didn't stick with the sheer quality of FII's sonics. The natural sound of that record really sets it apart from every other DT record.

[BlobVanDam]

I think it's no coincidence that Kevin Shirley mixed both of the clear leaders in this poll.

[Rhayader]

Six Degrees and Infinity