Although time rarely allows me to sit in front of a stereo and appreciate music uninterrupted these days, vinyl is still king here.
CD’s provide excellent sound quality, durability, and portability, which made them a perfect alternative to the cassette. Admittedly, most of my CD’s are ripped to itunes and loaded onto my ipod so I can listen to them in transit where – sadly - I spend a great bulk of each day.
CD Deluxe Edition’s are pretty awesome because they include single tracks that are long out of print and unreleased recordings. I have an edition of the Who’s ‘Live at Leeds’ that includes a coffee table book. That makes for a pretty cool set. I also like those BEAR FAMILY “complete recordings” box sets a lot. A collection of 5-11 CD’s worth of music on vinyl would be unmanageable and costly.
I can’t imagine paying for an MP3. For me, they are exclusively to sample new music or a last resort when the music isn’t available on either vinyl or CD.