5 years ago I wrote: When I digitised my LPs I produced both CDs and mp3s. In those days I played the CDs at home and in the car. Now I mostly play [the mp3s] off a hard disk at home (I haven't unpacked the CDs since moving) ...

I did unpack them and the ones I ripped to CD generally sounded better than the mp3s played on the RaspberryPi connected to my amplifier and speakers.

Partly as a result of that I got a new Rpi 4 with a separate 'DAC hat' and the mp3s then sounded better than the CDs, so they stayed on the shelf. The other day I played one of the earliest CDs (Fairport's What we did on our holidays) and it was badly distorted. So this is the long-expected CD rot described later in the thread. I might as well throw the lot away and make space for new ones.