[QUOTE="j...Apple’s current AAC variant (not “MP3” as you oddly claim) and lossless.”
.[/QUOTE]
Well, you’re right about that, but AAC is still lossy.
”What any one individual personally claims to hear in the absence of any controls - who cares?”
That doesn’t concern you nor me.
”By contrast, the difference between an immersive mix (played on an appropriate system) and a stereo mix - indisputably not bullshit.”
That’s a matter of personal preferences. I doubt you’d argue that there aren’t more people concerned with lossy ausiio than there are who crave more immersive audio, your or my priorities notwithstanding. I’m personally more concerned with the quality of the original master than any of the above, but that’s just me.