Sorry, but the good ship "Lossypop" I refuse to board. The problem with your providing lossy downloads is that the inevitable idiot, probably many idiots, will convert the lossy (mp3) downloads to FLAC. Wonderful! But now the idiot(s) will distribute lossy product as lossless. Along comes Conscientious Trader Joe with his original DAT > WAV > FLAC recording of the Howdy Hoodoos -- the only recording ever made before their plane went down in the Whiffacoochee -- and offers to trade his high-quality CDR for Lossy Idiot's crappy fake.
Trader Joe now does a frequency analysis on the spot, with his laptop computer, before forking over his Howdy Hoodoos disc to Lossy Idiot. Guess what? Lossy's crummy coaster not only does not cause Joe's laptop to melt down, but passes with flying colors! (See links in final paragraph on how this can be). Joe will now give Aunt Leslie lossy, mutt material from the Vault, in spite of its passing muster with EAC. (That's Exact Audio Copy, the preferred frequency analysis tool, for you audiophile neophytes).
Lossy, being the genius he is, will immediately take Joe's Howdy Hoodoos FLAC CDR, convert its contents to mp3 with and for his crappy computer, and set his beer mug down on Joe's CDR, as he has neither mind nor ear for its value, put up his feet, and congratulate himself on a job well done.
In a perfect world, mp3 wouldn't even exist. Imperfect as the real world is, however, we can take measures to preserve quality. Distributing the Graham treasure as lossless only -- sorry, Concert Vault Radio lovers -- is one step in the right direction. I am sorry to report, however, that I am late -- the process of corruption has already begun. Lossy Idiots are copying the contents of Wolfgang's Vault radio stream and, you guessed it, converting them to FLAC. In keeping with principle, I do not listen to the Vault radio stream. Like many others who've joined the Vault forums of late, I will wait for the real deal of FLAC downloads. Meanwhile the very verifiability of the coming original FLAC downloads you promise, diminishes with each passing day. Meanwhile, the deluge of dilution, and the proliferation of fake FLAC.
Finally, rummage through
this, read
that, and burn
the other thing into your brain, if you want to learn just how hard it can be to detect lossy audio, and how to become a better trader.