e_mc2

There’s one thing that’s preventing me from doing exactly that and that is, as a non-native English speaker with tinnitus, the constant struggle to find good subtitles that are properly synced. My lazy ass just wants to enjoy a movie at a normal volume without having to force myself to be super-focussed in order not to miss the whole goddamn plot of the movie.

I really don’t understand why companies use these tactics. Makes me instantly hate them and leave their website/cancel purchase processes etc. never to return again unless it’s absolutely completely unavoidable. Rather pay a bit more than dealing with scummy/scammy businesses.

I don’t entirely agree with you. Comparing the same song in MP3 or FLAC on the factory-fitted audio system in my car (2023 Skoda Octavia Combi) already makes a huge difference. Of course the difference is smaller when using 256 or 320 kbps MP3, but even then FLAC just adds that extra bit of depth and “openness” to the music

FLAC files are typically larger than MP3, because with MP3 roughly 90% of the original file is discarded on encoding, hence lossy compression. At decoding the codec tries to restore this 90% out of the original remaining 10%. This sounds worse than it actually is, but you understand why MP3 is considered inferior by audio purists.

On the other hand FLAC uses a different compression technique that reduces the original file by 30-50% but without any data deletion, hence lossless. So, original file let’s say 100MB as .wav, compresses to 30-50 MB IN FLAC and 6-10 MB in MP3.

I gladly sacrifice the additional storage to get noticeably better quality audio.

Somehow I doubt you’re 26.