Compressed files are fine for listening at low to medium volume in noisy environments or as background, as long as they're not overly or badly compressed. What's truly dismaying, however, is that
Young People Prefer "Sizzle Sounds" of MP3 Format. Fortunately, I use AAC, with which the sizzle problem is far less pronounced.
Anyway, I believe that file compression as a standard practice is temporary. As download speeds and storage capacities increase, the need for compression declines. A 1TB drive can hold upwards of 2,000 average-length rock CDs in standard 16/44.1 CD WAV form. Many people now have download speeds that can allow for WAV streaming. A 25Mbps connection can download a 50 minute CD-quality WAV in three minutes.
