Well you'll have to remind me if I'm coming that way. I have pretty much everything on my computer, a thumb drive and my phone. I can't imagine any real reason I need to keep them.
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Interesting! Did they ask about condition of the CDs or cases? Like did you have to examine them or anything?
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Well, they really didn't ask except to say that the CDs must be operable, the insert included and an undamaged jewel case. There were a few that I sent in that were denied (artwork missing, case damaged, etc.). But overall, I was pretty happy to get anything out of them.
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It is also notable that anything bought through a record club is basically worthless. I had a few really old ones from the BMG music club that don't have bar codes on them. No bar code...no buy, just FYI.
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Rejected ones are just tossed out I assume?
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I'm assuming so. They didn't send them back, but did mark my receipt on the ones that weren't accepted and the reason why.
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Those early Elektra (pre-'remaster') "target" CDs are the truth.
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I was stubborn and kept buying LPs. My CD collection is maybe 20-25. I will keep them and use my super combo AM/FM CD boom box.
LPs have been an endless journey at garage sales, used record shops and the internet.
Something about holding a record, looking in the sleeve, reading who produced and played is a tactile art experience. I’m glad I never let it go.
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100%
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Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I hear a song that is remastered I can never tell the difference from the original. Although I haven’t bought a CD in at least 20 years, I do miss the days of getting a new disc and reading the lyrics seeing the extra pics, etc on the inserts.
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Right, it really only becomes noticeable when you fucking crank it (or wear ear buds), and "remastered" usually only means 'digitally louder'

https://www.npr.org/2009/12/31/12211...c-sounds-worse

There really is NO POINT in "remastering" unless something really sounded like shit. I laugh every single time Jimmy Page re-releases "Zeppelin remastered under the supervision of Jimmy Page" because of 2 things :

1. None of the Zeppelin CDs have ever been remastered by Jimmy Fucking Page. Barry Diament and Joe Sidore did the first ones (in the 80s), George Marino did the 2nd round (early 90s - remember the 'crop circles' box set? He did that, too), and John Davis did the latest reissue campaign.

And

2. None of the remastered CDs really sound any better than the original Diament/Sidore CDs. At all. In fact, a case could be made that the Diament Zep II, Houses of the Holy, and Physical Graffiti are absolutely superior to any digital version that came after. Indeed, the transfers were done in like 1984-86, so the tapes were fresh. The Japanses 32XD of the Diament Houses of the Holy is like a flat transfer of the master tape. And that record was mixed in New York with Eddie Kramer, original LP mastered by Robert Ludwig...so those tapes were in New York when Diament did the tranfer - you can HEAR the difference in his mastering and the Marino/Davis remasters on that one because Diament is the only one who actually used the closest thing to a 'master' tape, probably a 1gen production mixdown on 1/4" tape. The "remastered" version all use whatever 2gen production copy that got sent to the UK, because what "under the supervision of Jimmy Page" really means is that he provides the actual engineer with the tapes he wants used.

And the pictures of the tape boxes in the Super Deluxe Editions tell the same story that I've surmised.
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Does anyone have a strong preference for both ripping and cataloguing a large CD collection?

I haven't used my CD collection in some time, but I have somewhere in the range of 1500.

I thought about ripping and cataloguing all of it, but that was around the time Itunes was renaming and rearranging your collection with its own conventions, and then taking away your access, or even the data copy from your storage, when the rights arrangement changed for them.

Then Microsoft's 'Groove' came and went like a wet fart, and I just figured there was no market for personal control of a digitized personal music collection.

I want what I have, arranged as they are on the CDs, tied to a database that lets me find something as easy as going to the CD rack and pulling the CD, all on an HDD where I can 'lend it out' to my phone to carry around as needed.

I don't need cloud storage or internet streaming, just a manageable collection digitized that doesn't get meddled with by prying corporations.
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I am assuming you are PC, with that in mind -
Jet Audio is your answer :

http://www.jetaudio.com/

Free and easy, perfect for cataloging and burning.

Set your output to FLAC Level 8 and set the destination folder to where you want the files ripped to.

Easy peasy
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All I did was burn my CDs to the computer and then loaded them on to itunes. From there it was basically like I bought them on iTunes so everything is organized just as you would expect.
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