I don't usually have a problem with 20-bit, DTS, DD, etc. It is, however, frustrating when it seems those encodings were used for no good reason.
I would rather have lossless, just because I'm hearing all the data available, without any being arbitrarily stripped away.
Also, I have A/B'ed lossless to lossy for a couple of titles (Bowie's Reality and Caravan's Land of Grey and Pink) and each time the lossless disc/file sounded better. If my only option is DD or DTS, so be it. It's all about enjoyment and I can enjoy them. My preference is lossless, but I try not to let that spoil my fun.
This "hi rez is better" discussion has been beat to death on here...so I won't rehash all of it...just a few things to point out....when you say it "seems" like there was no good reason...I guarantee you there was "a reason"...whether you think it was "good" is another matter...and despite the popular belief on forums that we could all do a better job of running these record companies...that seems unlikely because we don't have access to the information necessary to even make a fair assessment of the current business practices....not to mention the extreme bias we have for our hobby...and the part of your post about comparisons...I have CDs that outperform SACDs...blu ray audio and DVD-A titles...it ALWAYS depends on the individual title...there are lots of moving parts and it goes beyond just lossless vs lossy and what's available to hear and what you actually hear...
That's all I have on that topic Baggs...honest...no more to say on that topic...I'm tapped out...drained...hope things are going well for you...be safe my man