Best sounding album?

[LKap13]

Which DT album do you think is best sounding?

I actually enjoy the sound of Distance over Time over all the others. FII, SDOIT and I&W are top tier as well.

To me, the albums from SC to TA were odd sounding. I'm glad they finally got to a solid mix with DoT.

[The Walrus]

Honestly I think Octavarium might be their best sounding album.

[Ninjabait]

Hard to pick one for certain, but I think ADToE, SDoIT, Octavarium, Scenes from a Memory, and The Astonishing are the best sounding DT albums. Might be just because I'm very used to the sound because I've listened to them so often. ToT, FII, and I&W all sound pretty good too.

I guess I'm voting for ADToE. I think it sounds slightly better than all the rest.

[H2]

I'm really not a good judge of these things. Most of the albums sound pretty good, except for WDADU. I'm not exactly sure what people mean when they say something "sonically" sounds great, but I think I have a rough idea of what that means, and I would say SDOIT sounds the best sonically.

[Zydar]

Awake

Closely followed by Falling Into Infinity.

[hefdaddy42]

Falling Into Infinity is the best sounding DT album.

[Mladen]

Awake

Closely followed by Falling Into Infinity.

[PetFish]

I always see Awake as being one that people think is the best sounding but I find the bass, mostly the kick drums, to be extremely soft and muddy and although everything else is clear the low-end clogs it all up.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Even though it’s my least favorite Dream Theater album, sonically Falling Into Infinity is the best the band has ever sounded on record.

[evilasiojr]

I always see Awake as being one that people think is the best sounding but I find the bass, mostly the kick drums, to be extremely soft and muddy and although everything else is clear the low-end clogs it all up.

Yeah, feel the same about the bass!!

Voted for FII, great drum and bass sound, loud and clear, as well as the rest of the band.

[mikeyd23]

SDOIT

[lovethedrake]

Tough call between FII and SDOIT with Awake a close 3rd but I think although FII is a middle of the pack album for me it is the best DT album from a sonics standpoint.

[LKap13]

Out of curiosity, what sound quality issues do people have with the new album?

[JustDefyYou]

FII for sure, here are my first impressions when thinking about each album

I&W- Dated but enjoyable sounding
Awake- Dated but not very enjoyable sounding
FII- Classic 90's production, sounds amazing
Scenes- Inconsistent mixing with some very bad over compressed snare in some songs (strange deja vu) while others are fine (DoE)
6DoIT- Well balanced and good sounding, still some distracting snare compression
ToT- Over compressed in a good way, killer heavy sound throughout
Octavarium- Dry, dry, dry... also turn up that Root of All Evil guitar solo
SC- Standard mid '00s sound, not bad (crazy loud bass drums in TDEN)
BC&SL- Who needs any bass frequencies anyway?
ADToE- Quiet drums (except for that super pingy ride), eq wise seems more like a mix rather than a master but still enjoyable
DT- I honestly have no clue what they were thinking, I can't listen to this album
TA- Inoffensive but unmemorable
DoT- Hey look all the frequencies are back! (can we turn down those hi hats please?)

[LKap13]

FII for sure, here are my first impressions when thinking about each album

I&W- Dated but enjoyable sounding
Awake- Dated but not very enjoyable sounding
FII- Classic 90's production, sounds amazing
Scenes- Inconsistent mixing with some very bad over compressed snare in some songs (strange deja vu) while others are fine (DoE)
6DoIT- Well balanced and good sounding, still some distracting snare compression
ToT- Over compressed in a good way, killer heavy sound throughout
Octavarium- Dry, dry, dry... also turn up that Root of All Evil guitar solo
SC- Standard mid '00s sound, not bad (crazy loud bass drums in TDEN)
BC&SL- Who needs any bass frequencies anyway?
ADToE- Quiet drums (except for that super pingy ride), eq wise seems more like a mix rather than a master but still enjoyable
DT- I honestly have no clue what they were thinking, I can't listen to this album
TA- Inoffensive but unmemorable
DoT- Hey look all the frequencies are back! (can we turn down those hi hats please?)

Agree with a lot of this! Wonder if the "what were they thinking" moments resulted from JP taking on a bigger responsibility for the production. Do you have a background in Sound?

[KevShmev]

Out of curiosity, what sound quality issues do people have with the new album?

My issues are slight, but the levels are too high to where you can get ear fatigue if you listen to too much of it at once (see; too hot and too loud).  Plus, there is very little dynamic range.

[LKap13]

Out of curiosity, what sound quality issues do people have with the new album?

My issues are slight, but the levels are too high to where you can get ear fatigue if you listen to too much of it at once (see; too hot and too loud).  Plus, there is very little dynamic range.

Agree with the loudness, but I'm surprised to hear that about very little dynamic range. To my ears, the album feels very full, lots of highs and lows, and breathable at points. I'm not sure if "loudness" is mutually exclusive with having dynamic range, but that's how it feels for me.

[Volante99]

-Awake (a bit dated but good for it’s time)
-FII (overall probably their best)
-The Astonishing (maybe a bit too “digital”, polished, but sonically good)

[JustDefyYou]

FII for sure, here are my first impressions when thinking about each album

I&W- Dated but enjoyable sounding
Awake- Dated but not very enjoyable sounding
FII- Classic 90's production, sounds amazing
Scenes- Inconsistent mixing with some very bad over compressed snare in some songs (strange deja vu) while others are fine (DoE)
6DoIT- Well balanced and good sounding, still some distracting snare compression
ToT- Over compressed in a good way, killer heavy sound throughout
Octavarium- Dry, dry, dry... also turn up that Root of All Evil guitar solo
SC- Standard mid '00s sound, not bad (crazy loud bass drums in TDEN)
BC&SL- Who needs any bass frequencies anyway?
ADToE- Quiet drums (except for that super pingy ride), eq wise seems more like a mix rather than a master but still enjoyable
DT- I honestly have no clue what they were thinking, I can't listen to this album
TA- Inoffensive but unmemorable
DoT- Hey look all the frequencies are back! (can we turn down those hi hats please?)

Agree with a lot of this! Wonder if the "what were they thinking" moments resulted from JP taking on a bigger responsibility for the production. Do you have a background in Sound?

Not until recently when I started engineering and mixing for my band. I've also listened to all these albums so much that they're burned into my brain lol

[KevShmev]

Out of curiosity, what sound quality issues do people have with the new album?

My issues are slight, but the levels are too high to where you can get ear fatigue if you listen to too much of it at once (see; too hot and too loud).  Plus, there is very little dynamic range.

Agree with the loudness, but I'm surprised to hear that about very little dynamic range. To my ears, the album feels very full, lots of highs and lows, and breathable at points. I'm not sure if "loudness" is mutually exclusive with having dynamic range, but that's how it feels for me.

Check out the Blu-ray version; the difference is significant.  It breathes a lot more and still packs a tremendous punch.

[LKap13]

It's weird, but to me it feels like sound production has been DT's weakest element since 2006. Like if you turn on an album from pretty much any other band in the genre (Haken, Opeth, Symphony X, Tool, Kamelot, you name it) all the frequencies, all the tones are there. And they're there equally, such that nothing is grating. But with DT since 2006, every album has its own idiosyncratic sound that is just different from what one would hope or expect. Does anyone else agree with this? And is there any explanation? Some things that come to mind are 1) DT puts a lot of different sounds/layers into their songs making the production more cumbersome; 2) they're not hiring professionals to do the producing; 3) they're going for that "special something" mix which in the end backfires. All this to say that I'm very pleased with how DoT came out

[Ruba]

I think it's adorable that WDADU is an option. 

[Indiscipline]

Falling into Infinity for the analog era, The Astonishing for the digital one.

[SuperTaco]

I think it's adorable that WDADU is an option. 

I like that style of production, believe it or not Also, does anyone know of any albums from other bands that sound like WDADU?

FII wins the poll for me, followed closely by 8VM.

[dparrott]

FII is not my favorite album, haven't heard it in a while, but off the top I'd say SFAM.  I only listen in my car speakers, so my knowledge in this area is limited.

[hefdaddy42]

Also, does anyone know of any albums from other bands that sound like WDADU?

Thankfully, no.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Honestly... Distance Over Time. I know that the mix is way hot, but it still sounds great to me.

[MoraWintersoul]

I adore the sound of Awake, but I chose FII. Objectively, it might be the best one, it's satisfying in several ways, no matter what equipment you use to play the album, and it's for most ears.

[LKap13]

Honestly... Distance Over Time. I know that the mix is way hot, but it still sounds great to me.

What's meant by the mix being too "hot"?

[cramx3]

The real answer is likely FII, but I voted I&W because I don't care what anyone says about the triggered snare, I LOVE the sound of this album.  I'll admit, it's probably not the best but I wanted to give it some love.

[EPIC Outro]

I voted 6 Degrees.

And for the life of me, DT12 sounds fine to me ears.

[pg1067]

I voted I&W because I don't care what anyone says about the triggered snare, I LOVE the sound of this album.

 

[Dublagent66]

Awake.

[Shalev Amir]

Very tough, anything between Awake and SDOIT is a great contender
Thought I'll go with SDOIT, then decided FII sounds better but I don't particularly like Hell's Kitchen sound so I took Scenes

[Ninjabait]

Honestly... Distance Over Time. I know that the mix is way hot, but it still sounds great to me.

What's meant by the mix being too "hot"?

"Hot" here basically means that it's loud. If an instrument is hot in the mix, it means that that instrument is too loud relative to everything else. If the overall mix is hot, it means that everything is very loud and often very compressed.