Streaming services now push lossless and spatial formats as the definitive listening experience, yet most playback happens through earbuds, laptop speakers, or untreated rooms where those details vanish into noise. The counterargument is that better source material still compounds across good hardware and trained attention, so the ceiling matters even if few reach it. Should the industry keep chasing fidelity few can perceive, or redirect that effort toward adaptive processing that improves ordinary listening conditions?