As I understand it, the "warmth" of a cassette (and vinyl) is real. It is printed on somewhat organic matter. The wave forms are rounded, but the dynamic range is obviously much smaller than that of a CD. A CD or CDR, however, "squares off" the waves, making them "blocky", even if it is at a much higher quality. The subconscious notices, apparently. I personally release things with that sound quality in mind: "warmth" vs. clarity, depending on the content.
I only recently experienced disc rot by ordering a copy of The Portable Altamont (for $1) because I wanted the art, knowing that the disc was rotted. Other than that, I haven't experienced it. That said, I bought solely cassettes until around 2001, so maybe that's not long enough. And also, I have certainly experienced CDRs that were burned too fast or with crappy software/quality. It's pretty rare and it's usually poorly packaged, given to me, sent as a demo, etc, which doesn't rank high in my listening queue anyway.
I would be curious the difference between a replicated CD and a duplicated CD, VS. a CDR of varying types, plus that of a "studio quality" CDr, and how DVDs/DVDRs match up, for that matter.
Ultimately, it is not jewelry. I buy the work of an artist I like regardless of the format. If I don't care for the cover art, I might prefer a smaller format than vinyl, but other than that, I think these biases are largely herd-like and moronic.
