Maybe it's a technology difference, but that's the general feel I have across most tracks I've listened to. I'm not A/B testing specifically, but I was complaining about 128 kbit tracks and asking why they sounded empty, even before I knew about bit rates. Systematic Chaos, on 320 for example, sounds amazing.
I'll do some specific testing before I say anything else. :)
Audio perception is highly subject to placeo effect. If you're curious the community at http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/ has worked very hard to make this a more rigorous scientific process.
It's pretty remarkable how good modern lossy encoders are really. I consider it one of the more impressive feats of software engineering of the last decade.
I'll do some specific testing before I say anything else. :)