Not a superior sound, but a high quality MP3, using a decent bit rate and encoded with a good encoder using high quality settings, is close enough to an uncompressed CD that most people, even with good equipment, couldn’t tell the difference. And a lot of the equipment that a lot of people listen to music on is not very good. The DACs built into most phones are crap, for one thing.
“is close enough to an uncompressed CD that most people, even with good equipment, couldn’t tell the difference”
Until they hear them side by side.
Then anyone can tell.
If the band masters with vinyl in mind all the other formats will generally sound good too, at least in my experience. If they compress the heck out of it, like Metallica used to do anyhow, it will generally sound like crap everywhere and on everything. To my understanding the reason most compress it is to get noticed on crappy earbuds and computer speakers because most of the time people are doing something else when they listen on those formats.
I recall Lars saying he was really happy at how St. Anger was mastered because it sounded good to him on his van speakers and that’s how he mostly listened to music.
Freegards