Trying to recapture recording quality.

[Arpangel]

That thread about the 80’s sound started me thinking about my own "sound"
I was listening to a selection of recordings I made around 20/25 years ago, and they stand out for me personally on an overall technical level, forget changes in monitoring, room etc, since then, it shines though on my existing set-up, I can definitely hear it.
Compared with my recordings of today, they are "clearer" more "defined" and just generally more dynamic and hi-fi, the best way I can sum them them up is very "focused" everything is in sharp focus.
This doesn’t make any sense, as I was working entirely in the box at the time, with the occasional electric guitars, vocals, and a DX7 Keyboard.
Hardware wouldn’t have really made a big difference, as a lot of pieces were done with soft synths, and other apps, but I’ll briefly list my kit at the time.

A dual core PC running Windows XP
An M-Audio Audiophile interface
EMU X-Board Keyboard
Yamaha DX7
Soundcraft RacPac mixer
Lexicon LXP1 Reverb
Spendor SP1 speakers
Pioneer hi-fi amp

That was it, I later got a Focusrite Saffire interface, but essentially that was my kit from around 1997 to 2012.
I can’t seem to replicate the sound I had back then, maybe it was the software I was using, but that was what I’m using today, so?

[ajay_m]

It may be because "less is more". We have better sound libraries, more compute power but the problem is that it's easy to take stuff that's great soloed but takes up too much room in the mix. Compounded by the temptation to run stuff through plugins to add faux tape saturation etc in the hope that'll sprinkle magic pixie dust on the whole thing.
One of the best meals I've ever had was in an Italian restaurant sadly now closed, not far from paddington. The food was simple and vibrant, without complex sauces or spicing, letting the core ingredients contribute their fresh flavours in perfect harmony.
I think if you look back you might find you used less tracks, less effects and less processing simply because you didn't have the capabilities we have today. And you may have captured a take and left the imperfections of timing and pitch in rather than being tempted to tidy them up or do a retake. Could be wrong on all this of course...

[The Elf]

Definitely fewer tracks. It's too easy and tempting to overdub endlessly in the pursuit of 'more'.

[Drew Stephenson]

Less endless chasing of 'analogue warmth' and other saturation / distortion approaches perhaps?

[Folderol]

Wot dem all sed
I put up a track on soundcloud a few years ago that uses just 4 voices patches. It's currently showing 2270 likes. None of my others have got anywhere near that.

[RichardT]

Yes, it could be down to simplicity. Particularly not having a lot of tracks with a lot of effects.

[Arpangel]

You are definitely right about tracks, and also my music has changed a lot since then, there were a lot of short, straight to stereo one take pieces, now, I can have up to 24 tracks minimum, also, the character of my music has changed, namely darker, more reverb, it’s very noticeable.
There is one constant though, my DAW hasn’t changed, I’ve used Reaper from day one with the computer, and still do, although, there was a short time when I was using Samplitude, but the "sound" of a DAW isn’t something that I think is significant.

[Hugh Robjohns]

...also, the character of my music has changed, namely darker

I was going to suggest this as a significant factor. I imagine there was a lot more Tigger in you 25 years ago and much less of the now-dominant Eyeore. That's bound to change the character of the music in many subtle and not so subtle ways, including in aspects like dynamics, and focus.

[tea for two]

I can’t seem to replicate the sound I had back then,

You captured lightning in a bottle.
Were you to return to the exact same gear, you very likely wouldn't be able to capture lightning again.
It's same for most musicians bands artists in whichever medium of creativity.
Many have our moment in the sun.
Wigig : when it's gone it's gone. Drips and drabs thereafter.

::

is very "focused" everything is in sharp focus.

Singular focus means being singular : in person, in mind, in spirit.
At least for the duration of doing our creativity.
Unless we are making creativity with somebody, even then all parties involved need to have singular focus like in an Orchestra, else there's undercurrents of whatever.

If we are pulled hither and dither by whatever whomever we are less likely to have singular focus.

::

a lot of pieces were done with soft synths, and other apps,
A dual core PC running Windows XP
An M-Audio Audiophile interface
EMU X-Board Keyboard
Yamaha DX7
Soundcraft RacPac mixer
Lexicon LXP1 Reverb
Spendor SP1 speakers
Pioneer hi-fi amp

That was it, I later got a Focusrite Saffire interface, but essentially that was my kit from around 1997 to 2012.

In the mid noughties.
I had Emu X-board25 was my only MiDi keyboard.
WindXP on a dual core Hp laptop with Terratec Dmx6 sound card.
Sonar3 and SonikSynth2.
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ik ... ik-synth-2

Compositionally my music remains mostly 1-4 tracks per piece + percussion if there is. On a few occasions upto 8 tracks happening at some point although not throughout the piece : this includes some pseudo choral pseudo classical.
I will where required double up stack instruments playing the same part : I consider them as one track.

I have sound libraries with thousands of sounds I hardly use them. I pretty much have types of sounds I want for my music pieces so I just use those few sounds from libraries.

[Arpangel]

...also, the character of my music has changed, namely darker

I was going to suggest this as a significant factor. I imagine there was a lot more Tigger in you 25 years ago and much less of the now-dominant Eyeore. That's bound to change the character of the music in many subtle and not so subtle ways, including in aspects like dynamics, and focus.

Yes, I was definitely focused, as I had no money worth talking about! As usual, it was music of 'that time" not this one.
The cost of the gear was minimal, the computer was £250, I was given the interface, monitors, and amplifier, the LXP1 was £100 the mixer I think was £150, the most expensive thing was the DX7 at £300 adding up the other bits and pieces, and given stuff, from what I can remember, it came to about £750 for the entire caboodle. That lot lasted me about fifteen years, and I made around 30 Cd's.
There are two definite "sounds" in my music, that clean sound of then, and a much more dirty sound of now, it seems a natural progression, not an issue.
Life is receding, through a veil of reverberation.

[Wonks]

Don’t forget that you almost certainly had much better hearing then than you do now. I expect you were making different mixing decisions as a result, which is probably part of the overall picture.

[Arpangel]

Don’t forget that you almost certainly had much better hearing then than you do now. I expect you were making different mixing decisions as a result, which is probably part of the overall picture.

Yes, that does worry me, but not much, my body will die, but hopefully, my music will live on.

[Arpangel]

Update, interesting accident, had to mix a couple of synths, Behringer mono Micro Mix, straight into one inout of my interface, it was quite noticeable, the difference in punch, clarity, just a "bigger" sound, than gong through my mixer.
I then tried the synth straight into the interface, no dramatic improvement on things so far, but still the same very clear defined sound.
I may go this way when I want this sound, but it’s obviously nearer to what I was describing in my original post.