Music Quality = Best songs, writing, concepts, and execution of song.
IMO it was 2nd gen (more popular groups)
SNSD, BigBang, 2ne1, Shinee, After school, T-ara, etc. 3rd gen is a close second though and 4th gen's music is sort of like disorganized edm placed in the chorus with lyrics relating to love, or on the flip side relating to being cool. Does not mean 4th gen is bad, just different.