THX is not making any wild claims. The Engadget writer has read the MQA press dossiers and seems to like the "origami" metaphor. This is routine work in tech news blogs. "Another day, another dollar". The writer may not know the basics of current audio gear. And the MQA organization is good at propagating catchy "memes".)
I am quite aware of all of your points. Every time I omit the "/s" (end snark) notification, someone seems to take me at least semi-seriously. Many things that are written or spoken as part of the modern media complex are worthy of at least a bit of mild snark.
My "high-fidelity" source preference is 256-320Kbps MP3, although I have some audio files in flac format. I have absolutely no interest in MQA except as an observer of superfluous audio consumer junk.
I am very familiar with audio and computer consumer-oriented journalism, having begun my reading on the subject with Audio Magazine in 1958 when I was a high school student and an usher for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra during the Fritz Reiner era. (Audio had dropped the word "Engineering" from the magazine's name in 1953.)