I am asking this because I am currently a music technology student in training to become a studio engineer and record some metal bands as well as play in some. The purpose of this post is so that I can get an idea of what kinds of ways people prefer their metal and then use the right technology to get the best possible recordings for bands.

As for my answer, it depends on the genre/band. I prefer vinyl for doom, heavy metal, black metal, and some thrash. Cassettes are awesome in my opinion; I really enjoy them for thrash, death, and black metal in particular (also blues). CD's can be good or bad for anything, it all depends on the recording process and not as much the bands.