You know when you have a photo and you reduce the size in photoshop to about a quarter or less than the original, then you save, then you blow that reduced copy back up to the original dimensions and it looks all messed up? Or you watch a 1080p video stream and then reduce it to 360p and it just seems so blurry?

That is what we do to music when we listen to lossy compression, although we don’t perceive it the same way as we are more used to visual difference and also tend to always have pretty decent screens, while perhaps our audio gear is less-than-great.

We lose so much detail in the compression - not of melody and rhythm but the actual sonic texture and “air” - that no matter how people argue, it cannot be the same as a lossless format It is exactly what is is: a lot resolution copy.

It is true to say that the difference may not be noticeable without a certain quality of playback equipment, but I absolutely hate MP3s and the likes, and this is one (of many) reasons I won’t use Spotify or other streaming services. I don’t buy CDs, though, I keep a library of FLAC files and usually download music through Bandcamp - the quality is not a CD thing but is about whether or not audio has been compressed, so formats like those just mentioned, or lossless streaming through Tidal or Apple music, should sound just as good if the rest of the signal path is the same. You’ll probably find these same feelings any time you upgrade a part of your playback equipment - it all makes a difference!