"Popping" the figure for a curly maple finish - hard vs. soft maple

I just spent  a lot of time finishing a curly maple project. I finally came up with a formula: two coats of aniline dye (sanding between coats); then four coats of lacquer. Yet an old project of mine made with hard maple, I found it easier to get the maple to "pop". For that project it was one dye coat, followed by two lacquer coat.

Is hard maple easier to "pop" the figure that soft maple?

Tenderfoot Bob