Reddit reviews Sings Jerome Kern

I agree, 320 kbps mp3 is actually quite good despite all the negativity about mp3s. That said, there IS a noticeable difference if you are listening to excellently-recorded material through great speakers. I wasn't sure that there was a real difference until I used this cd. I believe it's the fifth track that has a really long cymbal sound that is just amazingly well-recorded, and THAT is where I could point to an actual difference between mp3 and wav (or flac/aiff/any other lossless medium).

After I was able to determine that there was a real difference, I started ripping all my music into lossless audio. The feeling that you might be missing out on just a bit of noticeable audio is too great to shake for me.

As for the original post, I also agree that the best thing is to get some high-quality headphones/speakers. Make sure you audition several pairs first, and really in that process you'll organically develop an appreciation for the better-quality audio. Just try not to get sucked into the hype about the supposed noticeable difference in sound quality between the $800- amps and the $8000+ amps or the cheapass cables vs the hyper-expensive cables. There is so much misinformation on this that it's beyond ridiculous.