Ty Ford wrote:
Early CD players skrimped on the D/A section and the buffer amps to get the sound out to the RCA output jacks. There was only ONE D/A circuit that switched back and forth from one track to the other.
Once that was solved by having separate D/A converters and the buffer circuits were improved, so did the sound.
16-bit multitrack sessions were ditched for 24-bit sessions (or higher). That also helped a lot.
There was a wide variance in LP playback systems and that was made worse by people who often used graphic EQ in their systems and set them for "smiley face" with boosted bass and treble.
Having said that, there had been a movement for some time in the analog recording world to increase HF response. Dolby and other noise reduction circuits, back coated recording tape to allow the tape to be hit with stronger signal without print-through, people messing with other things.
Listen to original pressings of the first Pure Prairie League LP. The brights are horrible
The worst one I ever heard was Don Felder's solo album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIz6rx07-Lo
--
Les Cargill