If you're going to compare "sound quality", a cassette tape, recorded on a good deck from a vinyl record or CD, played on a cassette walkman player, has better sound than IPODs, MP3, or even many CD's played on portable CD players. Cassettes are not as convenient - which is about the only thing that IPODS, etc., have that makes them preferable as a portable music reproduction medium.

There are ways to improve the sound of IPODS, but it involves sacrificing disc space.