CD Storage

rosebeast

Well-known member
i know its not particularly exciting, but as someone who has thousands of cds, and is having trouble finding anything to store them in, has anyone got any suggestions as to where I might be able to get some good cd storage?

Much appreciated.

Cheers
 

zhao

there are no accidents
I'm converting all my CD's to mp3 and will be storing them in terra-byte drives and 80G ipod.
 

Guybrush

Dittohead
Buy something like the archives pictured below (sorry, I do not know the English name), put a numbered sticker on each CD and place them in numerical order and add each CD to a searchable database program (tautology alert!) of your choice—to live happily ever after...

Hi%20170%20Tätpackning.jpg


You can also rip and store on your computer the ones you listen to regularly, and stack away the rest, of course, but I would dissuade from doing that if the physical objects hold any sentimental value to you (a moth-eaten booklet, a valentine of yesteryears, etc.).
 

bruno

est malade
that shelf looks great guybrush! the important thing is to make a house look like an archaeological repository.

i keep my cds in long scanner film boxes rescued from printing presses nearby. they are lightweight, sturdy, fit about 60 vertically and look nifty scattered all over the room. and other people tripping over them makes for a great conversation starter, lol.

i'm definitely up for more cds. and a player with decent circuitry.
 

bruno

est malade
not so much sadder than a plastic box is it?

Is it?
it's the loss of artwork as it was meant to be appreciated and loss of the sense of it being an individual thing that is sad, not the convenience.

i don't think jewel boxes are that bad, especially now that they mostly have clear trays, which is less disruptive visually. could be a lot worse.
 
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dubversion

Guest
my short spell at Our Price gave me just enough time to steal a lovely wooden set of shelves that's just the ticket ;)
 

mrchrispy

Member
Ah, the obsessive music fan's age old dilemna. You love the music, and by proxy object, but everywhere you turn there are so many little plastic boxes staring at you that you feel like they should be paying you rent. Then there's the constant question of how to organize the discs, by genre? alphabetically by artist?

It wasn't without some difficulty but I eventually had to face the fact that the shiny discs were starting to run my life. I ripped the whole collection, (about 600 discs worth at the time) to mp3. Eventually I plan to rerip in .flac once hard drive space drops enough in price). The cds went into storage at my parent's house (I live in a one bedroom apartment).

I added artwork to the mp3s which I can view on either the computer or my ipod, but most of my listening is done with a squeezebox which I've hooked up to my home stereo. So I lost a bit of the tangible aspect of album listening where you flip through the booklet while you sit on the couch, but I the ability to cue up any song from my collection instantly without ever having to get up off the couch. Plus when you're having a party it's nice to have a display right there that shows what song is playing so that you don't have people asking you "Who is this?" all night.
 

Lichen

Well-known member
it's the loss of artwork as it was meant to be appreciated and loss of the sense of it being an individual thing that is sad, not the convenience.

i don't think jewel boxes are that bad, especially now that they mostly have clear trays, which is less disruptive visually. could be a lot worse.

I hear that Bruno. I probably would have scratched/lost far fewer CD's had I kept them in their original packaging. It's a respect issue that arose because they play second fiddle to vinyl.

Kinda wish I hadn't done it now. Thread Starter: ignore my advice.

(You don't lose the a/w though; it sits opposite the disc in the folder.)
 

nomos

Administrator
I ripped and sold about two hundred discs that I never listened to or had longstanding grudges against. About as many went into Case Logic books with all of the art. It actually makes for a cool book of juxtaposed styles and artwork. I rarely open it though. Anything that I kept that had one of those cardboard boxes got a reprieve as did a few plastic encased ones that are newer or that I'm overly fond of. Most of those are on a single shelf arranged chromatically because I can't stand looking at rows of mishmashed colours. So I've got blocks of whites, blacks, reds, blues, yellows and a few others placed in between accordingly.
 

bruno

est malade
i only keep and buy what i truly, absolutely could not live without, or that has artwork so nice it would be a shame to part with. used to be ultra-stringent about this and had no problem giving away what wasn't up to standards, though in hindsight i think i was a bit too generous ;)

and lichen, i actually did exactly what you did with all my cds once, but instead stupidly slipped them into clear plastic sleeves, piled them all together and lugged them with me to the desert, where i lived for a time. the result: half the discs scratched with sand, which had somehow managed to creep into the sleeves. don't let this happen to you!
 

Leo

Well-known member
arranged chromatically because I can't stand looking at rows of mishmashed colours. So I've got blocks of whites, blacks, reds, blues, yellows and a few others placed in between accordingly.

wow, so cool, first i've ever heard of this system! care to post a photo?:)

i've got my own arcane system of genre/geographic filing: my shelves have some groupings by music type (minimal, reggae, dubstep, noise, etc.) and some by location (nyc indie bands, uk bands, japanese bands, etc.) the lack of strictly followed rules makes no sense to anyone else, yet makes perfect sense to me (i can probably pick out a specific cd in about three seconds tops). i'm pretty much the only one who can find anything, much to my girlfriend's dismay...

which leads to a related topic: when a significant other moves in, do their cds get consolidated with yours, or do they stay separated off on their own...and what does each approach say about the relationship! ;)
 

nomos

Administrator
i had a friend whose record collection was organised 'autobiographically' first, and alphabetically second.

i could post up a picture of the colours but i think it sounds more Mondrian like than it is. the problem is that people don't just make a yellow CD or a red CD, they're always mixing colours together with no thought to how the thing will look next to a multitude of others on a shelf (Pole being a welcome exception). sometimes i organise books that way too but it's too frustrating finding them again.

i keep my records in a cabinet behind closed doors.
 

eleventhvolume

Active member
Talking of arranging by colour: most - though there are some exceptions - of the Rune Grammofon CDs have white spines, also Impulse! and Chain Reaction. Oh and Kraftwerk's small, but perfectly formed oeuvre are generally rendered in primary colours or black or white and look good beside each other. I wrote a brief post with pics about this a while back. One piece of advice to the original poster: avoid the IKEA wood/glass cabinets - I was originally attracted to them because they were cheap and looked quite nice. However, there's a mid-point where the two glass panes overlap and that's where the CD you want to play will always be located! It's a real pain pulling a bunch of other CDs out to get at the one you want. Aargh.
 
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