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You will find that the quality of prerecorded tapes varies greatly. This was true of all forms of reel to reel and even cassette and 8 track. Much like other analog media including records, the care used in the mastering and duplication process makes a big difference!
Having said that, wait till you get a chance to hear a Tape Project tape! The wider track width, 15 ips speed and better EQ make it head and shoulders above anything but an actual master tape. Below that, there are some very good 2 track 7 1/2 ips tapes out there, and some reasonable sounding 1/4 track 7 1/2 tapes too, some of the best with Dolby B noise reduction, and even some OK sounding 3 3/4 tapes, but those are generally at the point when the manufacturers stopped caring about the quality. The best 3 3/4 tapes are somewhere between the best and worst prerecorded cassettes IMHO. Paradoxically, the quality of prerecorded reel to reel became more compromised as production continued throughout the years, while cassette duplication technology continued to improve so at the end they were sounding as good or better than the last of the open reel tapes. Where all of this ranks vs. vinyl is a solid "it depends". Vinyl has other issues but can certainly be right "up there" if everything is "right".
