Dream Theater is a band of virtuosos. In a lossy MP3, the sub-bass of John Myung’s six-string bass often muddies the attack of Mangini’s kick drum. In the FLAC exclusive:

In the track Room 137, Mangini uses a gong drum and deep toms. In MP3, the low-end becomes a muddy thud. In 24-bit FLAC, you hear the attack of the beater and the resonance of the shell. It’s a visceral, chest-thumping experience.

There is a rumor of a 24-bit/96kHz FLAC sourced from a 2019 promotional Blu-ray that never saw wide release. It allegedly contains an alternate mix of “At Wit’s End” with an extended guitar solo. Most agree it’s a hoax—but the search keeps the community alive.

Distance Over Time is the fourteenth studio album by Dream Theater. It marked a stylistic shift toward a tighter, heavier, and more concise sound compared to their previous conceptual epic, The Astonishing (2016).

While the CD offers 16-bit/44.1kHz, many exclusive FLAC versions of Distance Over Time were released at 24-bit/96kHz. That extra resolution captures the "air" around John Petrucci’s guitar cabinets and the shimmering decay of Jordan Rudess’s piano samples.