Matt, that must have been a pretty big living room for to accomodate all tromping through to see the CD collection.

One technical question: how was the transfer from the optical to the magnetic conducted? I recall from dubbing magnetic tape that transfers can occur at faster than playback speed. Was this also the case with the CD conversion project?

BTW did you copy the CD cover art ? Might be nice to have a few of your favourites to grace a coffee or end table. I myself have been of late partial to the Andy Goldsworthy reproduced on k.d. lang's latest "hymns of the 49th parallel and they there's the Joni Mitchell covers to her own albums and to "So Far" by Crosby Stills Nash and Young ... there is the pictorial glory of "Uprising" by Bob Marley & the Wailers. Have you archived the cover art and liner notes? Worth thinking about ... a catalogue not only of sounds but the objects and artefacts that populate and pass through the space of one's cultural productivity. The Lightbox beckons.

I ripped the CDs using the default software that comes with the MP3 player. The bits get from my hard drive to the device via a USB cable.

I didn't copy the cover art. Classic lesson in digitization: there is no such thing as a lossless transfer. A lot like OCRing a book and not imaging the pictures (or the cover or the page layout . . . )

Which makes me wonder - used to be that you could sell CDs down at CDepot or wherever and at least garner enough for some new music. How is the iPod generation changing reselling music?

Is this one of those cases when your 400 cd collection, which was once worth an even grand, now might buy you a soda pop?