There's really no comparison. For example, that's why tape deck manufacturers used -20dB levels when they quoted frequency response for cassette decks. You really don't want to know what it looks like at 0 dB.Music doesn't have high frequencies at 0dB. One of the problems was self biasing of the tape by high frequencies in the music. Higher bias lowers distortions but limits the bandwidth at high frequencies (tradeoff) . My Aiwa deck had HX-Pro that is basically a servo on the bias (keeps total bias constant). It greatly extended frequency response of the tapes. Still, it was not even close to modest TT I had, even with best tapes. CAN it sound better than vinyl? Of course. 8-track can sound better than vinyl if you get really cheap crappy TT.
