[themihai]

Why to bother with various tradeoffs if you can get the best?(i.e lossless). You can make the same argument on video technologies(i.e HDR). The truth is that people usually adapt so "painful" audio or video quality stops being painful after a while.

[sjwright]

If it was even remotely painful, it would sail through an ABX test.

[lisivka]

It may sail through months long ABX test.

[sjwright]

Artefacts that can only be discerned after months of sustained listening? Sounds like you're clutching at straws.

[lisivka]

Not an artifact, but loss of variance in music. Same patterns are activating same neurons, so they are tired.

[stdbrouw]

"Better" and "best" imply a detectable difference, and the point of a transparent lossy codec is that no such difference should exist.