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Recording during the 70's

Not sure if I'll get a response but all I can do is ask. It has been my understanding for many years now, that as the Recording Industry moved from tube equipment to solid state ... say from late 60's to late 70's, it took almost a decade for sound engineers to get "the bugs" out of the ss equipment which is why recordings from the 80's generally sound better than those from the 70's (let's put the common practice of over-modulation and the compression of dynamic range aside and I'm using rock as a reference). There were some exceptions however in the 70's, SuperTramp LP's for one (somehow wonderful recordings) and you will know others ... but there are many LPs from that decade that were just horrible ... love Jethro Tull's Agualung, but that album along with say, what Boston (another great group) put out .... terrible .... seem to be representative generally .... so much mush. Thanks for reading and replying. 
tak1

Showing 1 response by erik_squires

erik_squires
16,591 posts
 
The technology is important, but you forget consumer trends. Recording engineers aren't just artists, they are paid to make successful releases. That means following whatever gear, however people are listening.  A recording made for a boom box of the 1970s or 80s won't cut it with the best systems out there.

To give you some idea, check out this NPR report:

https://www.npr.org/2009/12/31/122114058/the-loudness-wars-why-music-sounds-worse

Even with great technology you can make really bad choices.
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