In digital music circles:

So this “fix” claims to provide a uniform, properly sourced 320kbps MP3 set with correct metadata.

Below is a step‑by‑step workflow that can be implemented by anyone with a modest computer setup. The goal is not to magically turn a 320 kbps MP3 into a 24‑bit/96 kHz file, but to recover as much fidelity as the source permits, reduce codec‑induced artifacts, and present the music in a listening environment that compensates for the loss.

To verify you have a genuine “fix,” you need to use Spek (free software) or Audacity’s spectrogram.

The Fix: Run your entire Dream Theater folder through Fakin’ The Funk? or Spek. Delete any file that doesn’t hit 20kHz. You are not a hoarder; you are a curator.

Starting with A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011), Dream Theater’s masters began to target louder average LUFS to compete with mainstream streaming. A louder mix leaves less headroom, forcing the MP3 encoder to allocate bits to prevent clipping rather than to preserve subtle details. The result is an audible “brick‑wall” sound that feels especially harsh when compressed further to 320 kbps.