I agree, the sound is bright and thin compared to Tidal. And regarding the hi res, without Wasapi in exclusive mode, Amazon HD is useless to me. I'm keeping my 3 month trial active in case they remove that bottleneck.
I went through the crumbling period for awhile too. It's a mess. I bought TTVJ flat pads a couple of years ago. The are still holding up strong. I'm looking forward to trying the Deluxe pads.
If I go a long period without listening, I do put them in a ziplock bag.