I thought the new stand was good by comparison, the concourse was spacious, the beverage queue moved quickly (although I rarely queued because conveniently the same time I polished a bottle off, the guy with the backpack full of fresh ones happened to walk past at the same time

)
The seat space, for me, I thought was good as I have sat in tighter spaces in a sports stadium.
The view was good (from row N at least). I did find it a tad strange the stand didn't have direct turnstile access as opposed to entering from the side of the ground. Toilets were arguably in demand, unless you go a couple of minutes before the half time hooter.
In response to thread title, the atmosphere was good from our section. The home crowd was fairly quiet for the majority of the game BUT to be fair their team didn't give them much to shout about other than the single try scored. I've been to Headingly where we ourselves have been quiet for large parts of a game.