So you have dived in and are swimming. Experiment. Read what I've said. Consider. Consider some more. Attempt something if you get the urge to. Follow your hunches. Read some more.
Trust your ears and your gut. If the sound appeals but in the long term your gut says "It's not right" trust your gut. Three things I have noticed which are always improved if your move is in the right direction.
Dynamics. Not just the contrast between the merest whisper and atomic destruction but super definition in the subtle stuff. Also notice how individual sonic elements have distinct individual dynamic patterns.
Tone: The movement is from sounding 'recorded' the sound becomes much more natural and unprocessed sounding. The unique sound of instruments becomes much more authentic and evocative. Voices similarly benefit. Vocal groupings tend to sound more like distinctly different individuals, with the individuality, inflections, emotional delivery and lyrics being pure sounding and compelling. I'll even say that the sound of the venue in minimal miked recordings ties in here.
Bass. The big thing to look for here is definition accompanied by dynamics. If you get one without the other you're not quite there. You want clearer definition, less bloat, clearer idea of bass texture, clearer deliniation of multiple simultaneous bass instruments. You want all of that accompanied by explosive bass dynamics.
This last bit is important - Dynamics, Tone and Bass must improve simultaneously for isolation to be truly making a change for the better. Improvements are across the board in those criteria or it is a fail and not quite there yet.