"...yes it could sound different, but not necessarily better."
pryso, "better" is the key word and subject of dispute. What is better for me, might not necessarily be better for you. It's more the matter of taste. And yep, it can sound different - in the direction to which you set your preferences to.
"And how about the older recordings being made with everyone playing together at the same time, no individual instruments added separately? I suspect a combination of factors."
Imho, that's the charm of old recordings - everyone playing together in comparison to today's recording (each instrument recorded and added separately). In this light, old recordings seem more real and more attractive to folks who appreciate live recording and therefore music with certain "faults"...
pryso, "better" is the key word and subject of dispute. What is better for me, might not necessarily be better for you. It's more the matter of taste. And yep, it can sound different - in the direction to which you set your preferences to.
"And how about the older recordings being made with everyone playing together at the same time, no individual instruments added separately? I suspect a combination of factors."
Imho, that's the charm of old recordings - everyone playing together in comparison to today's recording (each instrument recorded and added separately). In this light, old recordings seem more real and more attractive to folks who appreciate live recording and therefore music with certain "faults"...