Dream Theater - Parasomnia: released! - Progressive Rock Music Forum

Grumpyprogfan wrote:

^Well on "Parasonmia" it's obvious Myung is barely audible throughout the record. You don't need to be an audio engineer to mention that.

But then maybe some listeners enjoy not hearing bass?

This has been a common theme with DT, mixing Myung's bass very low and in many cases giving the feeling of a 3 pc band and not a 4pc. On any forum that discusses DT albums and production its always mentioned "where is Myung??". What most music listeners understand is bass is a part of the foundation of music, that's what gives you feeling and sustenance, it's part of the rhythm section that is key to music. I don't expect thumping bass, but with DT I do expect to hear and feel Myung in more of their music and especially where it needs it.

Again, listen to PT, SW, Riverside, Marillion, TPT and their bass players are very evident in the mix and it gives such great body to the music. I get that it seems Petrucci is not considering what Myung contributes and that is a shame. It's not always what we hear is exactly what the band wanted us to hear......There are loads of much better mix/master engineers than Andy Sneap.

I am liking the album more but I know for sure it would be more engaging to me had there been more attention to Myung, for a change. The album does also have too much compression, some dynamics are missing due to this.....I still say the production is mediocre, subpar and could be much better.

Grumpyprogfan wrote:

...

I disagree. You don't need to be a master chef to know if the protein is raw, or if a dish is too salty. Most restaurant reviewers don't train in the culinary arts for years.

Hi,

That depends on many things ... if the person smokes heavily, the food (often) has more salt. A non-smoker is likely to use less salt. Another example is the person that runs a hospital, is not a doctor more often than not. But in the world of DT by Mike, we're not allowed to disagree because he is the lord of the numbers and the grunge. Wink

Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com

MikeEnRegalia wrote:

^ Depends. Anyone is qualified to comment on "how good" a release sounds (to them). That's the subjective part which cannot be argued with.

Agreed. It's when it goes beyond this and attempts to critique things the average listener knows little to nothing about where it becomes pointless to me. "To me..." and "I don't like..." are perfectly subjective and acceptable.

Average listeners complaining about "production" and "the mix" and from the angle of the producer/engineer/mixing engineer/band not knowing what they're doing is laughable.

It's like walking into a new house, not liking the hardware on the cabinets and the paint color in the bathroom and saying "The construction of this house is sh*t." Zero perspective and pointless opinionating.

IncogNeato wrote:

Catcher10 wrote:

So is the whole topic of music.......Music is 100% subjective. Much less than production quality is. Where do you think all this Loudness Wars originates from??.....The ENGINEERS who mix/master music, that's not subjective.

IDC about "loudness wars".

I realized a long time ago, after doing reviews myself for 10+ years, that they don't ultimately matter.

As for music being subjective, of course it is. 100%

I just have a hard time with folks critiquing "production" when most of the time they don't really know what "production" is.

Just a pet peeve.

I know what production means and all it encompasses and how bad production can ruin an album. If you don't care about loudness wars then how do you know it ultimately does not matter? I assume you did not mention it in your reviews so there was no reason to receive feedback from your readers......I find this confusing statement you mentioned.

I stated music is 100% subjective, I don't think that can be argued.

Bad production in music is a pet peeve of mine....

Production and Sound quality are not the same thing anyway. One is 'art' one is 'technical'. Music is always king. I was always incredulous about the whole Vapor Trails debate that went on for what seemed like an age. Still prefer the original mix. Am I also the only one that has not heard a single Steven Wilson remix that surpasses the original?. I find that equally perplexing!

I don't have the technical equipment to listen to surround mixes anymore ... it's on my todo list. I mainly listen via (good) headphones nowadays.

But has anyone heard the Atmos mix of Parasomnia - is it more dynamic, can you hear all of the instruments more clearly?

Release Polls

Listened to:

^ I think that Atmos mixes do not work on normal "buds" - they certainly do not work on my highish-end Sony headphones.

Edited by MikeEnRegalia - February 14 2025 at 05:24

Release Polls

Listened to:

Grumpyprogfan wrote:

You don't need to be a master chef to know if the protein is raw, or if a dish is too salty.

It's a good analogy. But in this very specific case, determining if "a dish is salty/raw or not" requires non-standard research and/or knowledge. And that knowledge is absolutely optional, if you were to write a typical review, the kind that one would find in music websites and magazines.

And that is why typically reviewers omit the production aspect. If you choose to go in that much technical detail, you can't avoid dissecting the reviewed subject from the audio engineer's perspectiev and/or using potentially alienating technical vocabulary. Besides, the readers wouldn't know what the heck they're reading about anyways.

Edited by Hrychu - February 14 2025 at 06:32

“On the day of my creation, I fell in love with education. And overcoming all frustration, a teacher I became.”
— Ernest Vong

Someone needs to tell these reviewers giving DT's latest 5 stars that the production is terrible, they seem to be missing that. Maybe bad ears, or bad stereo, or maybe a bad format they're listening to it on. Because it's objective right?

"The wind is slowly tearing her apart"

"Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN

Mellotron Storm wrote:

Someone needs to tell these reviewers giving DT's latest 5 stars that the production is terrible, they seem to be missing that. Maybe bad ears, or bad stereo, or maybe a bad format they're listening to it on. Because it's objective right?

It's a good point though....But I respect that reviewers on PA are not intune (see what I did there Wink

) to a production component to their review. PA is not a forum that discerns quality of sound for the most part, I respect that it is almost all about the music and content, meaning the lyrical content more about the art of music.

There are sites that take the whole context of an album from this to also put value on the production qualities or lack of, in the whole rating. Below is an example, ignore the recording, unless you like Frank!! But these type of reviews include everything that many music lovers and lovers of hi end sound prefer. There is a whole write up as well link included if you desire to read it.

Frank Sinatra