Is using streaming services worthy of an audiophile?

I love Tidal. I stream their jazz collection through my Oppo BDP 103 into my DAC and it is wonderful. So many good albums and so fun to search for the really good sounding ones. Multibit dac. 

Another great, and completely free streaming option is the HiDef Radio app for iPhone. Probably available on android. And i think you can just use their website now.  Download it and search for the jazzgroove.org channel (if you like that kind of music). 128kbps stream. Extremely nice for casual listening. Run it thru USB into your dac and it is very nice. I do use a usb decrapper, but not much more. Cables are pretty low level. Nice sound.

Yes, only the audiophiles who want access to massive quantities of music of all varieties, though.

I've been Tidaling for about a week now, both in my Hegel/Oppo/Acoustic Zen reference system and in my family room Sony/Elac system. It sounds much better than spotify in both and though it doesn't quite match my vinyl rig for sheer detail, I'm perfectly happy with it in lieu of spinning discs, especially when I'm too lazy to actually get up to change discs.

The reason the vinyl rig seems to produce more detail is that the dynamic range of vinyl is more limited. Therefore, both in the mastering and in the cutting the peaks have to be limited to avoid distortion and even the stylus jumping out of the groove, and the low level signals have to be lifted above all that surface noise (also, low frequencies have to be in mono for the same reason that peaks have to be limited). The end result is a dynamically compressed signal that suggests there is more detail. If you want to, you can achieve the same with digital compression. There are quite a few plug ins for mastering consoles to mimic this vinyl sound.
Sorry if I have destroyed an illusion.