For me, I won't hesitate ... The AE production blows me away ...
Everything is well balanced and the drums sound awesome ...

Geoff

AE for me, especially how well the midrange comes across. But you need a very good system to truly hear it's merits. Terria probably has the worst mix.

Accelerated Evolution has an amazing production with great sound...

but... Infinity had to be the most difficult record to produce. It even took him more than half a year. And it sounds awesome. I tried to copy the guitarsound and drumsound for my own work, but it's really specific Devin's sound. I can imagine that that production "drove him insane" (Physicist audio commentary).

I don't think that Terria is badly produced at all, just different, but that's exactly what makes Devin his sound so powerful.

I can hear quite a bit of compression on "Terria" that robs it of clarity and bite.

That doesn't have to be a bad thing. Maybe it's just Devin messing around with sounds and production techniques.
You can hear everything on Terria, plus there are a lot of acoustic guitars, which are also very clear.

Anyway, at the end of the day it all depends on what you're used to. I record different beginning bands, from soul to metal, and also play in one, and if I'd get the sound on Terria I'd be more than happy.

Compression is a technique used by sound engineers to make a recording sound good on a portable audio device (like a discman or Mp3 player) or a cheap stereo (like a boombox). Such recordings usually eschew balance in favour of artifically enhancing the treble and bass, which sounds passable on the aforementioned audio devices (as they too exarcebate the treble and bass) but sounds horrid on a proper Hi-Fi. Thus my dissapoinment in Terria's recording.

Ocean Machine

it's the only album that can make me cry on command, the production seems to actually pass the emotion straight to you - almost as though the music isn't there

incredible

Compression is a technique used by sound engineers to make a recording sound good on a portable audio device (like a discman or Mp3 player) or a cheap stereo (like a boombox). Such recordings usually eschew balance in favour of artifically enhancing the treble and bass, which sounds passable on the aforementioned audio devices (as they too exarcebate the treble and bass) but sounds horrid on a proper Hi-Fi. Thus my dissapoinment in Terria's recording.

I know what compression is. Actually a lot of engineers use it these days, I'm also against it. I have been (and still am) a huge vinyl fan for years, which just sound better, can't help it. I'd like to get some Devin albums on vinyl, that would sound amazing.
Anyway.. on topic again... I agree with you that Terria sounds less good than the other albums. You can here it even better if you encode the records to MP3 and compare Terria to the rest of 'em.

Terria all the way.

I know what compression is. Actually a lot of engineers use it these days, I'm also against it. I have been (and still am) a huge vinyl fan for years, which just sound better, can't help it.

AMEN! It's good to see someone say that. I agree, compression blows. It takes away all the dynamics and warmth the music could otherwise have. Everyone seems to use it these days (I call it "squashing the shit out of things"), so when my band did our CD, we hardly used any (and it sounds more retro - like Pink Floyd). Anyway, one reason I love Terria so much is for this reason - it has life and dynamics galore. Partly because they didn't "squash the shit out of it".

Haha.. no problemo. Good to 'meet' you too, man.
But erm, you should talk to "YouFoolWarrenIsDead" about the compression on Terria, because.... uhm, well, read the posts.

I don't understand how you can class Terria as a shoddy mix. Everything is clear, the guitars still have a lot of grunt, and the production gives it this out-there, otherworld sorta feel. I'd have to say AE and Terria, AE has that ultra-thick sound, so chunky you can carve it. I cant see Terria any other way, the way it sounds is what makes it different to any other album IMO.

for the sake of being a pain in the ass, i gotta say...
poor Physicist isn't technically a "Devy production"
I know u just put all his main albums on, but i doubt anyone expected it to get a vote

edit: oh yeah, forgot to mention that i voted for Infinity, mostly because of how mind-meltingly hard it would have been to pull that off

Infinity. Massive.

Compression is a technique used by sound engineers to make a recording sound good on a portable audio device (like a discman or Mp3 player) or a cheap stereo (like a boombox). Such recordings usually eschew balance in favour of artifically enhancing the treble and bass, which sounds passable on the aforementioned audio devices (as they too exarcebate the treble and bass) but sounds horrid on a proper Hi-Fi. Thus my dissapoinment in Terria's recording.

You guys are thinking about compression being over used when a CD is mastered. That's when engineers use limiters and compression to get the CD to sound as loud as possible. THIS is what can ruin the sound of a cd. Audio engineers and producers use compression during tracking/mixing all the time however and if used RIGHT it doesn't squash the sound of anything. All it does it balance dynamics so that everything is audible. If used too heavily however, it can eliminate dynamics and mess up a recording before it gets to a mastering engineer. This is rare with someone who knows what their doing. The recording engineer's job is to get all the instruments to sound good and get a good mix, it's the mastering engineer's job to that that mix and make it sound good on all stereos. So blame your bad CDs on bad masters! There aren't that many good ones....

That being said, I voted for Infinity. It's incredible.