lovstromp:Been wondering for the last few days about how good casette actually was/is. Didn't know it was that good as it's described in here. Wow!
A good deck, combined with decent tape (I always liked TDK SA-X, based on the usual quality/price equation!), properly calibrated and with a good quality source & appropriate recording levels could produce excellent quality recordings. My deck is a Sony TC-K661S, nowhere near Dragon territory by any means, but still a capable machine.
I occasionally play the odd tape I made years ago, and am always surprised by how good they sound, given the bad rep that cassettes have.
Maybe the OP was talking about reel to reel? I have heard reel to reel machines that were truly superb.