No piece of equipment or digital format trumps a brilliantly recorded/mastered session.
I have been saying this for years. But for some reason every time I try and prove it people take the ear buds out hand me the iPod back and tell me I’m nuts.
What Makes a Difference?
I’d much rather listen to a good recording as a 160kps mp3 (c.f. Stan Getz Samba Jazz) than a crappy recording upsampled to 24/192.