I have a high end Nakamichi tape deck. Unfortunately, I haven't used it in years.
But there is no doubt that the sound quality is better. LPs too. Even ripping to digital from an LP sounds better.
My source was the manufacturers' Web sites, as I wanted to see what the various companies actually offered (as opposed to what the retailers were selling). Maxell cassettes are still a going concern! (They're still making VHS cassettes, too.) Couldn't find anything about cassettes on the other sites.
I have a high end Nakamichi tape deck. Unfortunately, I haven't used it in years.
But there is no doubt that the sound quality is better. LPs too. Even ripping to digital from an LP sounds better.
I find it ironic that many stereo manufacturers are still producing turntables, but only a few are still selling cassette players (I could only find a handful of Sony boomboxes and a Teac deck or two).
I'd love to have a couple hundred to spend on one. I've got hundreds of tapes, a good number of which are of out-of-print albums, so it would be a worthwhile investment. Some of the aforementioned Teac decks also have USB ports, so all that out-of-print analog can probably be digitized easily.