First off the bat, I’m surprised that a snarky eating popcorn gif hasn’t been posted yet.
One thing that gets lost in the compression audio quality discussion is the loss of stereo imaging integrity. Not just center, left and right but up and down, near and far.
Buying reasonably good headphones, for me, is the best entry option for good audio when you care about what you listen to and have a limited budget.
I don’t think it is an issue of audiophile snobbery to respect the craft and discipline of the mix engineers, producers and mastering engineers… Oh, and the musicians, when wanting good sound reproduction.
