As an analogy on a pure music level of enjoyment aesthetically and the basic principles of audio engineering I'd totally agree. Forty years ago, they were not using click tracks, there was no Internet, everything was primarily analog (CD's came in the 80s), the plugins we accept as commonplace were all manually patched outboard hardware and the music was definitely less perfect in too many ways to count from timing, editing, execution and more.

The music itself was of the time. Drums sounded different in mixes and the synths depicted the era they belonged to. All you have to do is pick one movie from each decade for example two - You pick Beverley Hills Cop you hear the music of the 80s, you get And Justice for all, the 90s - so on and so forth. Phil Collin's In the Air Tonight you hear the massive gated drums that everyone used for nearly a decade. very different to today. These days if you compare the more modern EDM to the 90s techno and you'll hear variances in squashing, saturation, levels, loudness and much more. if you listen to the music in the first Blade movie, you'll hear the beginnings of nearly every form of electronic dance music. So yes the concepts don't change I guess but the times do.

 

Last edited: Sep 29, 2024

Yes, I heard changes twiddling with bypassed EQ instance...

 

Its normal, its like if you listen to audio with boosted high frequencies for some time your ears adjust to that, its good to have an reference and switch from time to time, or to not focus for too long on 1 sound/track without breaks or without switching your focus to other sounds.