How much is about the recording

Good music is such a joyous experience when it's well recorded/engineered.  At the same time when good music like Eric Clapton's classic Layla is poorly recorded it makes me cringe.  Recording and engineering is such an art.  I would recommend an interesting book:  "Making Rumors" by Ken Caillat.  What's interesting to me is that the book tracks one of the most famous rock albums of all time and it's written by the sound engineer!

@russ69 

What does the noise suppression in garden in the rain sound like? I just listened to it and nothing sounded odd to me. Is it throughout the whole song ? I have Rockport Avior ii speakers with a Boulder 866 int. Incredible detail and clarity.
 What components are in your system? 

Ron

i.e. WHICH, Diana Krall version of "Garden in the Rain"

Love Scenes Impulse CD IMPD-233

What does the noise suppression in garden in the rain sound like?

The tape hiss like noise is fully suppressed, then as she takes her breath, you hear the background level come up and she starts singing. Someone/some device is definitely gain riding to reduce the background noise on the quiet segments in between her singing. I find the whole album just a tad over-produced.

You'll need some really good tweeters, a system with good extension, and you'll need to turn it up a bit. It hits me over the head but if your system is fairly average you may not hear it. It sounds great on my lessor systems. 

Most people do not realize how bad a recording can be until they hear it on a great system. A good system will make good recordings excellent and bad recordings unlistenable. I love listening to great recordings on a great system as I find myself enjoying artists and music I never considered previously. IMO the recording and the system go hand in hand.

How much is about the recording

It’s everything.

Only a deluded fool believes their system can make a bad recording sound good.