Bigger numbers are not automatically better. Where you can genuinely hear a difference.
The same track on cheap earphones on a train reveals almost nothing about file quality. Noise intrudes and the hardware cannot express the difference. Reversing the order is more practical: improve the earphones and the environment first, then raise file quality. The perceived change is far larger that way.
Lossy compression discards what people are least likely to hear in order to shrink the file. Lower compression sits closer to the original, but past a certain point the difference becomes hard to detect in most settings. Lossless reconstructs the original exactly, with no quality loss but several times the size.
Bluetooth cannot send music untouched; it compresses for transmission. The scheme used is the codec, and both your device and the earphones must support the same one to get its performance. However good the source file, it is recompressed over the link โ so on wireless, checking codec compatibility beats upgrading the file tier.
Comparing the same track two ways, the slightly louder one sounds better. Human hearing mistakes loudness for quality. To compare fairly, match the volume as closely as you can and listen without knowing which is which.
A quality specification states a ceiling; it says nothing about how the recording and mix were made. A well-made master sounds good even heavily compressed, and a poor one sounds closed-in even lossless. Listening beats choosing by specification.
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