I would 100% rather buy a CD than download it. My time is worth over $20/hour and even when I was at the peak of my MP3 hunting skill, I could never get a single CD in one hour. And if the CD is something slightly off the beaten mainstream path, I could look for days before finding it.

Thus, it IS easier to simply buy the CD. Of course, I still prefer to buy my CD's only at folk music concerts where I can hand the money directly to the artist. That always gives me a good feeling.