Yeah, they did kinda suck, but counterpoint: Uncompressed PCM. For a solid 10-12 years they were the best audio quality you could get at the consumer level until computers and portable media players got enough storage and power (and good enought audio cards) to handle high-bitrate MP3 and lossless codecs. Even today they're still significantly better quality than even most streaming or download services. And no drm...

[–] xthexder@l.sw0.com 4 points 1 year ago

My entire music collection consists of lossless FLAC files I've ripped from CDs or downloaded as a lossless web release. Most artists I listen to still do CD releases, and I can pick up a copy at their concerts, which is a good way to support them. I don't pay for any streaming services since I basically run my own via Plex which can stream lossless to all my devices.