Why do some MP3 players offer better sound quality than others

[karmanya]

Hey guys, I was looking to buy a new mp3 player, and I was wondering, why are the sound qualities different?. Logically speaking, every mp3 player is just a storage device, and the electronic signals should be the same. So logically, shouldn't headphones make more of a difference than the mp3 player itself?
Secondly, this entire thing about i-pods not having great sound quality- is it true? I mean my my mum is in the audio business, and most of her shows that I've been to, the professional Dj's, with harmon carden amps and bang and olufsen speakers, all carry ipods with them, If there was a difference, won't the proffessionals use the cowon's and the creatives?

[a_k_s_h_a_y]

An audio recorder that can record exactly the same input is of highest quality.
A player that can reproduce the exactly recorded sound is of highest quality.

But then comes laws of nature, no machine works 100% efficient and stuff like that enter noise, distortion, defects, digital to analog conversion etc. Noise at each level.. and so on...

The sound you finally hear is not exactly what it was in LIVE !!

Something like that.
Ipod is overrated ! Besides ipod is just an assembly of different components. Samsung memory, processor, some other companies decoding chip etc.

And finally a white apple case and an apple mac os type interface, that's an ipod.
All the technologies underneath are not at all Apple technology.

[hellgate]

diff MP3 players sound diif cuz they r made with diff parts.finally it comes down to the quality of the DAC used,the processor used etc.the better and more compatible these components r the better the player is.

a lot also depends on the decoding algo

[MetalheadGautham]

the decoding process makes all the difference. Some players may have more processing power than others and might use more complex and high quality decoding process. Others may use a simpler and lighter one due to the presence of a weaker processing unit.

Again, even under the same power some might use a better decoding algorithm than others.

In simple words, some mp3 players offer better quality than others.

[damnthenet]

yeah! There are differences b/w different players.

Basically, there is some element of noise coming into audio in any form in practical cases. The best player therfore should make the o/p less vulnerable to noise.

Another important thing is the frequency response of the player... how much low and high are amplified and all... A good player should allow you to customise the bass, treble, equalizer, Q factor, etc.

And yes, the headphones do play a great role in quality.

[dOm1naTOr]

Also the quality of ckts, nd pureness of conductors. In copper, impurities like oxygen atoms present in copper cud increase noise level. Also some ckts must be isolated to protect from interference which might be internal or external.
Also the amp quality, which might depend of the coil pureness, nd isolation from interference.
Some Creative players comes with X-Fi decoding chip which is one of the best in class DAC. And gold plated connectors help the signal remain pure.

And also the headphone/earphone type nd quality matters a lot. U can get a fair idea bout it from this thread [last few pages]
K850 sounds better than audio chipped N81!!!