Digital BW, The Print

since I've been experimenting a lot with these new baryta and gloss
papers, both with UCK3s, and the new Selenium MPS set, a few things
have become very obvious.
We've been out of the darkroom for so long now we've become acclimated
to some new trends, not seeing the forest through the trees.
These new papers are all seriously blue, I've mentioned it before.
Many won't mind this, but to me it manifests itself in B&W prints that
are not harmonious throughout the scale, and color prints that lack
richness and subtlety in bright warm colors. 
Just to get my bearings I dug up a lot of old prints last night, Azo,
Brilliant, Seagull, Portriga, Kodabromide, Gallery, and many were matted.
Except for Gold Fiber Silk (and probably Silver Rag, but I have none)
they were far bluer than any of these old prints. Even GFS was
visually no warmer than Oriental Seagull, but it was brighter. There
was a serious disconnect between them and any matte board I have here,
even the Ilford was brighter though the hue ok.
Interestingly, the Gold Fiber Silk is described in all the on line
reviews by users as very warm. In fact it's neutral.
I don't think we should be trying to imitate those old materials, but
they have a look that we have responded to positively over many
decades, while at the same time many consider these new products a bit
unconvincing, seeming to lack "beauty", that illusive something extra.
I'm becoming more and more convinced this quality is part of the
problem. Also, since it is obviously connected to the questionable use
of a lot of OBAs, it would be nice to see this trend tamed
considerably. I've said in the past I have no big problem with OBAs,
but now it just ain't pretty...
OK, back to work.
Tyler