Now that the MM era is finished, how would you rank those five albums?

[Max Kuehnau]

The 24 bit versions of Dramatic Turn, DT12 and D/T have noticeably less compression which is far easier on the ears (mine anyway, I did notice a sizeable difference and I'd *never* want to go back to listening to their CD counterparts anymore. Literally pain inducing to me.), higher dynamic range too (and higher resolution of course) You can read the DR values on the DR database: https://dr.loudness-war.info/?artist=Dream+Theater&album=Dream+theater

[ZirconBlue]

So is the mastering the same for the HD versions of ADToE and the s/t? I know the mastering is different for d/t. I think that would make more of a difference than just increasing the resolution. There's a reason why Sony and Philips went with 16/44.1 as opposed to something higher: because there's no real audible difference with anything higher.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/44,100_Hz

Yeah, the "hi res" aspect is kinda unnecessary.  But, often they do have a different master, in which case they tend to sound better.  I haven't checked out the hdtracks versions of these specific albums, though, so don't know if that's the case with them.

[nobloodyname]

It's certainly true they will contain less compression, Max is right. But that won't change the fundamental sound of the album unless they've also been remixed and remastered. Less compression alone will not make A Dramatic Turn of Events sound like a totally different album although some will certainly prefer the increased sibilance it may confer. It still sounds as boxy as cluck because the mids are overloaded for many of our tastes.

That said, if people think it sounds like a different album, brilliant. It means they'll get to enjoy it now which is great because yes, it's a really good album. Well, except for the saccharine ballads, of course

[Max Kuehnau]

This is exactly what was the case for me. I enjoyed Dramatic Turn and DT12 musically (always did, still do of course) but I always thought: why do they sound so horrible on CD? This can't have been how it was actually recorded (and it wasn't, as John mentioned). Is there a way to actually listen to these albums as recorded? You can imagine my relief when I first listened to these in 24 bit. One's mileage will vary though I'm sure (as Scotty would say)

[mariner]

Late to the party but my ranking of the albums:

A Dramatic Turn of Events
Distance Over Time
A View from the Top of the World
Dream Theater
The Astonishing

ADTOE is a top 5 album for me.