At some point in the mid to late 60s studios replaced their tube equipment (consoles, microphones and processors) with solid state designs. Some say this was a step backward in sound quality. Starting in the 70s the newer consoles had more channels for recording and mixing and were mated with 24 track tape machines, which if needed, could be sync'd for 46 track recordings/mixing. Over dubbing/double tracking became the norm and real time recordings, at least for pop music, stopped. In the late 70s affordable high quality reverb/delay processors became available from EMT and Lexicon. If the 80s had a sound, it was the sound of reverb.
The biggest change really occurred in how bands used studios. In the 60s the earliest Beatles' albums were recorded in 2 or 3 days. By the late 70s and into the 80s some bands were taking nearly a year of studio time to produce an album.
Classical and jazz recordings never fell fully into this trap. For them you always had real musicians who could play a performance straight through playing together in a room. A decent sound recording room, a few good mics, spare use of processors and just an occasional overdub generally makes for a good sounding recording.
The biggest change really occurred in how bands used studios. In the 60s the earliest Beatles' albums were recorded in 2 or 3 days. By the late 70s and into the 80s some bands were taking nearly a year of studio time to produce an album.
Classical and jazz recordings never fell fully into this trap. For them you always had real musicians who could play a performance straight through playing together in a room. A decent sound recording room, a few good mics, spare use of processors and just an occasional overdub generally makes for a good sounding recording.