Ahem :)-as an ex sound engineer my experience was that as listeners expect a wider frequency response these days & broadly speaking have better Hi-Fi equipment than 25 years ago (yes, StS is that old..) a mastering engineer today will take time to "retrieve/rescue/ (over)emphasise" the low & high frequencies that may have been regarded as less important back then.(posted 8805 days ago)We would also EQ (especially bass) to ensure that we could cut a higher level to vinyl - this obviously isn't necessary anymore! Also the kick drum _can_ be panned hard left without sending the stylus flying out of the groove.
Dynamics are also possible on CD (grin) so hideous grinding stereo compression is no longer de rigeur. We also have much better mastering compressors now so a high perceived volume level is achievable (important for listeners in cars) without the whole track sounding like it's being played through a Marshall stack. Spot my pet hate...
But...you can hear the tape hiss. Oh yesssssssssss...
Hopefully this should mean that Ship to Shore no longer sounds it's being played thro' old WEM columns. Oh, yes, I forgot.