Thank you for the thorough article. I don't use any music streaming services at all, because - and I will share this with you - I have assembled a modest set-up consisting of a 1USB to 3USB splitter which I connected to a USB port at the back of my PC ($20) and a cheapo USB cable ($5). Now all I have to do is type in Cortana any concert, album, song, in any genre - the source of the files is youtube. Now, you wouldn't expect a $25 setup to sound good? Surprise Surprise, the SQ matches that of my expensive CD Player. Of course, this costs me nothing...And I would like to comment on two other issues: a hi-res file of 24bit/192Khz sounds worse than a 16bit/44.1Khz (Redbook spec), and the fellow who liked MQA on Tidal probably has a problem with his hearing...MQA is a hoax, developed by Meridian because the company has accrued a debt of 48,0000GBP! While there is a minority of people who claim MQA sounds good, most listeners (and reviewers) agree that it doesn't sound any better than FLAC files or WAV files or plain old CD's.
