Audio fidelity! CDs were better than cassettes, even the later metal coated tape! CDs had no easily-discernable hiss for the most part (although a few early tape to CD transmissions were very hissy). Having said that, cassetes were far more robust and I regret getting rid of my Walkman with Bass Boost, that's for sure.
So? I'm sure you could understand the words just fine on cassette. Wanting to hear a bit less hiss in your recreational music listening seems like a pretty "first world problem" to me...
