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.
Not needing an MQA compatible DAC to stream hi-res is nice. Cheaper is nice. 3 months free is nice.
I paid Tidal for a year but will try it out after that ends.