From what depends the quality of the music..

That's difficult to say, mostly because no limits are imposed on any on the parameters, for example if you have a top of the line system, a 32 kbps mp3 is till going to sound like crap and amount for 100% of the reason the system sounds like crap. The same applies to an amp that is totally clipping its signal, a portable player with a software issue...

Besides, I would say the talent of the mastering engineer plays the greatest role in how good music can sound, for example, Californication was mastered very badly and no kind of gear will make it sound good.

That said, I will assign a standard value of 0 for a 256 vbr mp3, iPod classic 7th gen, ibuds. The following number are how much about how much improvement you can get.

wires - 0

player 5

music format 10

amplifier 10

headphones 75

In terms of distortion (whether harmonic or intermodulation), noise levels, dynamic range, frequency response (timbre) or any other measurable parameter, the transducer (the headphones) measures dozens of times worse than the rest of the chain. IMHO, it's very easy to get the player and amp section to near perfect while getting the headphones section to near perfect is nearly impossible, the number I attribute to "headphones" could be be arbitrarily higher.

I agree with

wires - 0

player 5

music format 10

amplifier 10

headphones 75

If you were to include ambient noise and other listening distractions on the go, that would be between the headphones and the other things probably.  Definitely that's more important than the non-headphones components.  Depending on the headphones, maybe I would put amplifier above 10; for others, less than 10 probably.  10 is probably a reasonable assessment for "average" conditions.

75 on headphones may be an estimate on the low side given the "baseline" of ibuds...

Here you go:

wires - 0

player 5

music format 5

amplifier 10

headphones 10

Music mastering quality 70

No. Price has nothing to do with it. It means even if you are spending $3000 on your amp, that is only responsible for 10% of the final sound characteristic you hear. How much that 10% is worth to you, is up to you, and the needs of your headphones. A $50 amplifier that is incapable of doing its job will gain you none of that 10%, and will damage the 75% of the headphone percentage... they still work together.

Ultimately, I think this kind of breakdown/measure - is flawed. Certainly if you are trying to equate it to prices - as those have almost no bearing whatsoever on the performance. 

And price does not correlate directly to overall performance and sound quality.

This is more just a general break down of any given sound characteristic is influenced most by the headphones, secondarily by the amplification (and DAC), slightly by the player and file format/compression, and probably not at all by the wiring (assuming they are not broken, and sufficient to the task).

It is not a true heuristic of percentages for quality - there are too many factors (and the most important of them happen when the music is being recorded and mastered anyway). 

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFF 

Here you go:

 

wires - 0

player 5

music format 5

amplifier 10

headphones 10

Music mastering quality 70

Pretty much this, but I'd take ten points out of mastering quality and put them into headphones, because you're not giving them enough credit relative to the amplifier. Maybe even take 5 points out of amplifier, but it generally has more impact than the DAC and the numbers need to reflect that. Sort of difficult to work with a score system.

wires 0

player 2

music format 3

amplifier 5

headphones 25

mastering quality 65

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFF 

Here you go:

 

wires - 0

player 5

music format 5

amplifier 10

headphones 10

Music mastering quality 70

Quality of the mastering - 70. I agree here.

Though I'm taking it out of the equation since most of the time, as a consumer, we can't do anything about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by khaos974 

Quality of the mastering - 70. I agree here.

Though I'm taking it out of the equation since most of the time, as a consumer, we can't do anything about it.

 

 

We can be selective in our purchasing. I've honestly had people complain that their stereos sounded terrible - but it turns out they were listening to some of the worst recorded material I'd ever heard. The loved their same "terrible systems" when I gave them a few good recordings to use to evaluate it. That one choice made a bigger difference in their listening than 20K worth of new kit ever could have. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by liamstrain 

Quote:

Originally Posted by khaos974 

Quality of the mastering - 70. I agree here.

Though I'm taking it out of the equation since most of the time, as a consumer, we can't do anything about it.

We can be selective in our purchasing. I've honestly had people complain that their stereos sounded terrible - but it turns out they were listening to some of the worst recorded material I'd ever heard. The loved their same "terrible systems" when I gave them a few good recordings to use to evaluate it. That one choice made a bigger difference in their listening than 20K worth of new kit ever could have. 

You can't help it when you really like the piece of music and there is only one version of it that is sold.

[parody]

- You should really listen to xxx, she's really good, her voice is extraordinary

- It's recorded like crap

- Besides, the musician playing around her all extraordinarily talented and innovative.

- Still sounds like crap, you should listen to yyy instead, listen to how the bells resonate in the church, you can hear it, right? You can even hear the conductor scratching his nose.

- Errr, the tempo is all messed up, the orchestra is no playing in sync.

- But still can you hear how delicate the violin sounds?

[/parody]

Yar, I know. Still - it cannot be eliminated entirely as a major factor regarding overall sound quality. All you can do is try to correct for it - and build your system using good reference recordings for evaluation purposes. That way you at least know if it is your system that sucks, or not.