Quote:
Originally Posted by s_k
It also depends quite a bit on your equipment.
Another fun one: The difference between a cheap ass audio interlink and a more expensive one (well, actually it's cheaper, but I made it myself so I could choose the materials myself  ). The difference is probably bigger than the one between lossy and lossless. Hearing is believing 
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Truth. A majority of folks are listening to their music on consumer-quality gear, which doesn't do much in the way of critical listening. Even my setup, which is composed of a quality recording audio interface, and mid-grade studio monitors, doesn't afford me the absolute optimal critical listening experience. And it goes beyond that, to the listening environment, speaker placement (like you were saying, s_k) and down to even cabling and isolation.
Would the majority of consumer-listeners notice a difference? Probably not. And I think that's where critical listeners really stand apart, because even on crap equipment, they will notice discrepancies... whereas most consumer-listeners may just accept what they're hearing as the norm, unless there's a glaring problem.