Which album's production do you prefer?

[LKap13]

Do you prefer the production of The Astonishing or Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence?

[Madman Shepherd]

I chose 6DOIT but it probably wasn't fair for me to choose because I haven't really listened to the Astonishing.  It is funny that 6DOIT is where a lot of old school fans (and by that I mean former friends that became former DT fans) started to complain about the production

[Max Kuehnau]

Both these couldn't be more drastically different. This is not a fact but I'm sure we could agree on that. (I chose TA, because I like clean and sterile sound)

[Adami]

6 Degrees.

Production is way more than the mix. And the production of 6 Degrees is just really fascinating and creative. TA is pretty standard production for what they were doing, which is fine, but less impressive to me when compared to 6DOIT.

[bosk1]

I don't know.  The production on each works really well for its respective album.  I can't really choose.

[Max Kuehnau]

I don't know.  The production on each works really well for its respective album.  I can't really choose.

Yes, both serve their purpose very well and that's what DT wanted to do with both of them.

[Architeuthis]

I like the mix better on TA, but they are both fantastic albums!  As far as production goes, TA is a bigger beast because there are so many tracks and nuances that were carefully mixed. The final product is very clean and professional sounding, including the choirs, symphonic parts. JLB's vocals were very well done all over TA and flow with the music perfectly.
 

[Architeuthis]

I might add all the extra sounds on TA, such as the military marching sounds, slave workers in the background, voices etc is what adds a lot of work in production. However, the crying part later in the album is a bit underwhelming..lol!

[hefdaddy42]

Nothing wrong with The Astonishing, but Six Degrees has one of my favorite productions of any DT album (the other big one being Falling Into Infinity, obviously).

[LKap13]

The reason I started this thread is because I find TA's production to be thready, thin and less punchy than the production of SDOIT, FII (and even ToT, Awake and I&W). I don't quite understand why the production quality (IMO) would have declined rather than improved a decade or more after those other albums were released. Can anyone share their opinion? Is it because they're doing production themselves rather than contracting someone?

[Max Kuehnau]

The reason I started this thread is because I find TA's production to be thready, thin and less punchy than the production of SDOIT, FII (and even ToT, Awake and I&W). I don't quite understand why the production quality (IMO) would have declined rather than improved a decade or more after those other albums were released. Can anyone share their opinion? Is it because they're doing production themselves rather than contracting someone?

Well, they only ever started producing themselves (Petruccinator and Porty that is) because they were hugely dissatisfied with how FII ended up sounding and because of Kevin Shirley IIRC. The production of Met2 apparently was pretty well-liked IIRC. IMHO Dramatic Turn was sounding the best, but again that is my opinion and just that.

[Setlist Scotty]

Well, they only ever started producing themselves (Petruccinator and Porty that is) because they were hugely dissatisfied with how FII ended up sounding and because of Kevin Shirley IIRC.

They started producing themselves because they didn't think they needed anyone else to get involved with the songwriting, editing or arranging of the songs. It had nothing to do with how FII ended up sounding (in terms of the mix). If it did, you can be sure they wouldn't have asked him to remix most of SFaM, nor would they have had him mix the following two albums. 

[ariich]

6 Degrees.

Production is way more than the mix. And the production of 6 Degrees is just really fascinating and creative. TA is pretty standard production for what they were doing, which is fine, but less impressive to me when compared to 6DOIT.

On balance, this is where I come down too. In a technical sense, I prefer the sound production of The Astonishing which really is very good while I find Six Degrees just slightly muddier. But production overall, Six Degrees has so much cool stuff going on that it wins out.

[Max Kuehnau]

Well, they only ever started producing themselves (Petruccinator and Porty that is) because they were hugely dissatisfied with how FII ended up sounding and because of Kevin Shirley IIRC.

They started producing themselves because they didn't think they needed anyone else to get involved with the songwriting, editing or arranging of the songs. It had nothing to do with how FII ended up sounding (in terms of the mix). If it did, you can be sure they wouldn't have asked him to remix most of SFaM, nor would they have had him mix the following two albums. 

I stand corrected.

[jadiggerdt]

I think the sound mix will be a mix of dt12 and tot. If Mangini becomes a victim again, it's going to hit BIG! Negative!!!!. May hope he sounds a bit like the Xanadu cover and into the Great Divide album. Lets pray

[nikatapi]

I think the sound mix will be a mix of dt12 and tot. If Mangini becomes a victim again, it's going to hit BIG! Negative!!!!. May hope he sounds a bit like the Xanadu cover and into the Great Divide album. Lets pray

That was a good drum sound indeed.
I just hope for some good dynamics, although i'm afraid it will be a little brickwalled.

[mikeyd23]

6 Degrees.

Production is way more than the mix. And the production of 6 Degrees is just really fascinating and creative. TA is pretty standard production for what they were doing, which is fine, but less impressive to me when compared to 6DOIT.

Yup, yup. Agreed.