Btw, could this "pumping" be because of Myspace? I think it boosts lows, highs and compress everything by default.
With regards to the discussion of "where the audio industries go" I can really appreciate what
MarkGifford says and I think he makes perfect sense.
I do not work as an audio engineer myself though I am trained as one and my experience says that a lot of professions suffer from the same thing. I have a friend who is quite rich. She works occasionaly when she's bored. She recently asked 10 Euros per hour to teach 3D Animation in a private college because she "would like to have the experience" and have a fancy CV. She got hired instantly and even though she's good she didn't get the job because of her skills but because she's cheap.
I think this mentality is quite aggresive towards the idustries and we all share the responsibility. It's about awareness and education. If I were a professional audio engineer I would focus on educating my customers and convince them that what they pay worths every cent.
sp.
Hey man, Mpspace compresses the file to make it of a smaller size, same name but different process. While myspace does make everything sound like crap and I encourage everyone to use Soundclick (sounds sooo much better:)). The pumping is definitly in his Compression technique. Whats interesting to say the least is that a little pumping is actually a good thing in rock and even hip hop music. THe key is to get the attack and release set correctly in accordance to the threshold in order to trick the ear that there isn't pumping or even breathing going on in the first place. Kyle D Mixing and Mastering!