In regards to the Prater vs MP thing, it's safe to say that MP has been kinda vindicated honestly. Even if many do like the sound of I&W, it's safe to say that people generally prefer the production on albums like FII and SDoIT as well as the Liquid Tension Experiment albums, the drum sound very much a part of that. The irony is that if Prater had been more accomodating and open minded about what the band wanted, walking the line between compromise and nudging the band in a viable direction, he might still be in demand nowadays but instead, he pretty much fell into irrelevance by making his name as an insufferable snob that is largely known for making DT's life hellish for a time. On the flip-side, albums like LTE3 and the last few Neal Morse albums, from what I know are praised for their crisp, dynamic drum sound with little to no disagreement on that front, while I&W's production choices are polarising to this day.
I'm also kind of baffled that Prater pointed out that the kick was triggered as if that's some kind of gotcha moment, given that the variation of timbre with a kick is generally going to be far less noticable than with a snare, so it's likely that MP just tolerated that side of things more.