Alien for sure. Clipping = noooooooooooooo!

It's an amazing album aside from that.

Where does Alien clip? The MP3 rips might but the album sure as hell doesn't.

Oops, I think I mistook overcompression for clipping. The two often go hand in hand, so I assumed that one meant the presence of the other. Either way, when I crank it up there isn't much dynamic range, everything sounds strangled. The album is sonically "red" and absolutely furious all the way through (Two Weeks aside) but maybe that was the intention.

[swervedriver]

Alien for sure. Clipping = noooooooooooooo!

It's an amazing album aside from that.

Where does Alien clip? The MP3 rips might but the album sure as hell doesn't.

Oops, I think I mistook overcompression for clipping. The two often go hand in hand, so I assumed that one meant the presence of the other. Either way, when I crank it up there isn't much dynamic range, everything sounds strangled. The album is sonically "red" and absolutely furious all the way through (Two Weeks aside) but maybe that was the intention.

Ah, that makes sense. The album is very 'busy' indeed, although I think that's (partially) where its fury and insanity comes from.

As for me, there are little things with each album, both solo and SYL, that can be improved upon I think. Although, I'm very partial to the massive spaceship that is Accelerated Evolution. With the latest albums Ki and Addicted I'm hard-pressed to find anything sonically 'wrong' so this bodes very well for everything yet to come.

Self-titled SYL album, definately.

Ocean Machine's nearly flawless, but if any flaw is high-heaviness.
Infinity's flaw is even more high-heaviness but mainly because of all the synthy stuff...and the hi-hat IS the tweeter.
Accelerated Evolution's vocals are too high and the snare sounds like a non-tonal tom.
Terria's flaw is the kick. It should be so high, but it shouldn't not be high.
Synchestra lacks atmosphere in some parts that need it terribly.
You forgot Ziltoid, which needs a different drum VST, or at least a different snare in DFH--the default one is entirely too recognizable.
Ki is perfect for what it is. I think some more guitar tracks would help though. No remastering needs done here.
Addicted's guitar tone could be different.

HAARHT just doesn't sound of high quality, but it's not exactly supposed to. I'd say the album needs to entirely be re-recorded (except the vocals) and remastered.
City is absolutely perfect. Everything. The wide-sounding drums you won't hear anywhere else (except OM)...everything, fantastic.
SYL -- see HAARHT.
Alien is nearly perfect, but too high-heavy and hard-limited/compressed/loudness max/etc.
The New Black sounds fine for someone who isn't Devin Townsend, but it is Devin Townsend therefore it sounds bland and he can do much, much better. This needs to be remastered entirely, although Almost Again sounds nearly perfect.


Edit: For the record, this is just me being really, really, really, really fucking picky. I'd give the production/mastering of ALL these records no less than four stars. Not even HAARHT, SYL, or Physicist. Seriously, In The Rainy Season, Dire, and Material all sound absolutely perfect for what they are. Physicist's production gives Planet Rain a very "rainy" vibe similar to that of the end of In The Rainy Season.

Oh shit, how could I forget Ziltoid?
But the production on Ziltoid is a product (hehe) of Dev wanting to do everything himself. He wanted to get it done as quickly as possible, without concentrating too much on the mix.

Oh yeah, Ziltoid's drums. DFK sounds great with Meshuggah, but with everything else they just sound thin and plastic. Also, he made the guitar tone through a POD XT Live, right? How the hell did he manage that?

He put the tone up a while back, it used the Treadplate Dual with matching cab, plus the stock delay plugin.

Really? Any clues where it might be?

Ocean Machine's nearly flawless, but if any flaw is high-heaviness.
Infinity's flaw is even more high-heaviness but mainly because of all the synthy stuff...and the hi-hat IS the tweeter.
Accelerated Evolution's vocals are too high and the snare sounds like a non-tonal tom.
Terria's flaw is the kick. It should be so high, but it shouldn't not be high.
Synchestra lacks atmosphere in some parts that need it terribly.
You forgot Ziltoid, which needs a different drum VST, or at least a different snare in DFH--the default one is entirely too recognizable.
Ki is perfect for what it is. I think some more guitar tracks would help though. No remastering needs done here.
Addicted's guitar tone could be different.

HAARHT just doesn't sound of high quality, but it's not exactly supposed to. I'd say the album needs to entirely be re-recorded (except the vocals) and remastered.
City is absolutely perfect. Everything. The wide-sounding drums you won't hear anywhere else (except OM)...everything, fantastic.
SYL -- see HAARHT.
Alien is nearly perfect, but too high-heavy and hard-limited/compressed/loudness max/etc.
The New Black sounds fine for someone who isn't Devin Townsend, but it is Devin Townsend therefore it sounds bland and he can do much, much better. This needs to be remastered entirely, although Almost Again sounds nearly perfect.


Edit: For the record, this is just me being really, really, really, really fucking picky. I'd give the production/mastering of ALL these records no less than four stars. Not even HAARHT, SYL, or Physicist. Seriously, In The Rainy Season, Dire, and Material all sound absolutely perfect for what they are. Physicist's production gives Planet Rain a very "rainy" vibe similar to that of the end of In The Rainy Season.

perfect. cause exactly my opinion
you forgot to fully comment on Physicist though

I went with Infinity since I'd love to hear epic tunes like WAR or Dynamics a little less cheesy and a bit "heavier".
Same, but less, is for OM.

IMO, most of Dev's album's are lacking bottom-end. I like the kick drums to go boom, and the bass to be louder in the mix, for the most part.

IMO, most of Dev's album's are lacking bottom-end. I like the kick drums to go boom, and the bass to be louder in the mix, for the most part.

Ever heard an album with bass-heavy rapid-fire kick drums? I don't think it's possible without making it rumbly mess. Fast, aggresive music doesn't benefit of being boomy I think.

Obviously you are not going to want a Bonham-like sound from the drums when you're doing the faster stuff, but they should have a stronger presence in the mix. I liked the drums on 'Alien,' but I would have liked the bass to have more presence.

you forgot to fully comment on Physicist though

I did on purpose--everyone else pretty much spoke my mind. It's not really a BAD production job by any means, I just know Dev can do better( and he proved it in a recent live version of Kingdom).
HaaRHT was roughly Physicist-quality in production but that album is, in my opinion, more enjoyable than TNB and SYL. The production on In The Rainy Season really is perfect for the song. I can't imagine the end of that song sounding any better than it does.

I'm not much of a ''sound-guy'' I just listen to the music

Terria. I like the music, but the overall sound and the atmosphere that the mix creates just keeps me from really connecting to it all. Kinda hard to explain...