I'm looking for a CD storage solution that would meet the following criteria:

1. Capacity to hold up to 700 CDs, though not necessarily in a single cabinet/case/whatever as I could combine one or more of these storage solutions;
2. Enables alphabetical ordering of CDs without my having to move every single one along a place whenever I buy a new album by, say, the Aardvarks;
3. Easy to find specific CDs;
4. Retains the original CD inlay cards, though not necessarily the jewel case as well.

Any suggestions, ideas, recommendations, etc, will be gratefully received.

(Please don't say 'put them on your hard drive' because I've already done that but still want to keep the original CDs and cover art. And my hard drive isn't much use to the car stereo I have.)

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Steve Cooke
http://soundcloud.com/stevecooke

Hi,

Suggest check out hard case like this.

Or soft case(s) like this.

The amount of space you save getting shot of the jewel cases is phenomenal!

Quote:

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And my hard drive isn't much use to the car stereo I have.)

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Same situation here. Currently I stick stuff onto the iPod, which plugs into the car head unit aux in. But vaguely wondering about putting some sort of permanent hard-disk device in the car...

I use a 120gb portable harddrive in my car. love it to death. driving just isn't the same without it anymore to me.

edit:

and if you intend to carry this massive case in your car... big mistake... unless you have a really really good hiding place. thats a lot of stuff to get stolen.

Edited by Metanoia113 (03/01/09 06:13 AM)

Quote Metanoia113:

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and if you intend to carry this massive case in your car... big mistake... unless you have a really really good hiding place. thats a lot of stuff to get stolen.

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I don't. I just need my CD collection to be easily accessible so that I can pick out three or four CDs to carry around in the car whenever the fancy takes me.

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Steve Cooke
http://soundcloud.com/stevecooke

Quote comradec:

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4. Retains the original CD inlay cards, though not necessarily the jewel case as well.

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I would suggest you reconsider this last point. Jewel cases are by far the best way to store the disc. The design means you lift it out of the holder by holding the edges. Removing and replacing CDs in soft cases creates friction against the disc and reduces its playback life. It sounds anal but its true.

I would look at some simple shelving. 700 CDs sounds like a lot but can easily fit on one long shelf or two smaller ones. The advantage being you can see the spine of each disc and should you need to add/remove a disc, its a simple matter of adjusting the stops at the end.

HTH.

ken

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I'm All Ears.

Quote Chris Edwards:

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Hi,

Suggest check out hard case like this.

Or soft case(s) like this.

The amount of space you save getting shot of the jewel cases is phenomenal!

---

Thanks for the suggestions. I've already got some soft cases by Caselogic - they're okay for smaller quantities where the order isn't so important or is less likely to change, but not for a still growing collection kept in alphabetical order. I keep all the CDs and DVDs I get with magazines, essentially my audio samples collection, in one of those and new arrivals simply get added to the next available sleeve. (They're not included in my 700-strong collection which refers to albums and a few singles, not sample disks and software.)

I think the Hama Aluminium box is the sort of thing I'm looking for. In fact, I went out and bought one from Maplin after seeing your post. Unfortunately, I found it had a huge dent in it when I got back home so will have to take it back to the shop. However, I managed to establish that a dent-less version would be appropriate for my needs so I will be asking for a replacement, not my money back.

Getting rid of the jewel cases will save space but I do find it annoying when bands package their CD releases in 'deluxe' gatefolds or boxes instead of the regular format. They might look good at first but often they won't fit on a CD rack with the rest of my collection. They also tend to deteriorate rather more quickly than standard packaging and therefore look far from deluxe in a few years' time, just as cheap books do.

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Steve Cooke
http://soundcloud.com/stevecooke

Edited by comradec (03/01/09 11:29 AM)

Quote Ken Long:

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I would suggest you reconsider this last point. Jewel cases are by far the best way to store the disc. The design means you lift it out of the holder by holding the edges. Removing and replacing CDs in soft cases creates friction against the disc and reduces its playback life. It sounds anal but its true.

I would look at some simple shelving. 700 CDs sounds like a lot but can easily fit on one long shelf or two smaller ones. The advantage being you can see the spine of each disc and should you need to add/remove a disc, its a simple matter of adjusting the stops at the end.

---

I don't disagree with you in principle, Ken. Unfortunately, though, due to the burdens of 'family life', I have to keep my existing racks in a room completely separate from the place where I'm actually likely to play them. I'm quite worried that my existing Argos-purchased CD racks will come crashing down one of these days due to the activities of young lifeforms beyond my control. And there isn't room for the racks in my home studio room, which is very small.

As I have the entire collection on my hard drive in 320kbps format, I'm more likely to play stuff from my computer anyway now. I want to be able to access the collection easily, but mainly for selecting disks for the car.

--------------------
Steve Cooke
http://soundcloud.com/stevecooke

Haha. Yes. I can relate: she just spilt washing liquid all over the kitchen floor as I was replying earlier.

I meant simple wall mounted shelves (at adult eye level ). I don't like those towers as their footprint is too big and a lot of dust gathers around them. Especially if you only need access to them once in a blue moon.

ken

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I'm All Ears.

Quote Ken Long:

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Jewel cases are by far the best way to store the disc. The design means you lift it out of the holder by holding the edges. Removing and replacing CDs in soft cases creates friction against the disc and reduces its playback life. It sounds anal but its true.

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Interesting - never knew that. Do you have a cite ? Any idea how many times one would need to insert/remove a CD from a soft case to significantly damage it ?

Thanks

No site I can think of. Its all common sense really. The least amount of handling will ensure a longer life - as with anything really

You can check out this thread though:
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/amia-l/2002/06/msg0014 8.html - in particular, the recommendations by the development head at Kodak:

Kodak does not recommend storing CD-R media long-term in soft sleeves.
There are concerns about scratching the disc when sliding it in & out and
deforming the disc if it is packed in with other materials, e.g. in a file
cabinet. There are also concerns about the possible long-term effects of
plasticizers in the sleeve materials.

Jewel cases and beehives are good because there is no contact in the
recording zone of the disc. Beehives do present an access problem; trying
to get at disc #22 in a beehive of 50 typically involves a lot of disc
handling which could lead to scratching, fingerprints or drop damage.
Perhaps you might consider jewel cases for frequently accessed discs,
migrating to beehives for discs which are seldom accessed. If storage
space is a concern (when is it not?), you might consider slimline jewel
cases which are half the thickness of a standard jewel case.

You may want to consider purchasing a copy of the American National
Standards Institute standard ANSI IT9.25, entitled IMAGING MATERIALS -
OPTICAL DISC MEDIA - STORAGE, which provides recommendations for the
handling and storage of optical media. It is available for $34 from Global
Engineering Documents through their web site


ken

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I'm All Ears.

I remember hearing Peter Gabriel say a couple of years ago that the average CD purchase only got played one and a third times. Not sure where he got that figure or how it was researched, if indeed it was researched. But I suspect it's not far off the truth, especially now that people are routinely converting their CDs to MP3s.

--------------------
Steve Cooke
http://soundcloud.com/stevecooke

Quote comradec:

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I remember hearing Peter Gabriel say a couple of years ago that the average CD purchase only got played one and a third times.

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I'd say that is probably true...





...of his CDs

ken

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I'm All Ears.

There's a simple answer to that - be more discriminating, buy less CDs, and play each one more often


Martin

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YewTreeMagic

Quote Ken Long:

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...of his CDs

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Well, indeed. Listening to a radio interview with him talking was more bearable than listening to him singing.

I quite liked Afro Celt Sound System until they decided to get Mr Gabriel in as a guest vocalist on one of their albums.

--------------------
Steve Cooke
http://soundcloud.com/stevecooke

Quote comradec:

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Quote Ken Long:

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...of his CDs

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Well, indeed. Listening to a radio interview with him talking was more bearable than listening to him singing.

I quite liked Afro Celt Sound System until they decided to get Mr Gabriel in as a guest vocalist on one of their albums.

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Why don't the forum Graemlins carry a 'horrified' icon?!

I'm aghast!

The police are on their way...

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An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Quote:

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Why don't the forum Graemlins carry a 'horrified' icon?!

I'm aghast!

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OK, in fairness, the Last Temptation of Christ was OK.



ken

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I'm All Ears.

Hmm. Now that I'm sitting here putting CDs into my new aluminium case I have to say it just doesn't feel right. All those jewel cases discarded and all that supplementary information on the back cards. And the CDs are not very accessible at all. It would be hard work finding a specific one, even with the alphabetical ordering.

Not sure I can go through with this.

I might just use the case for my sample disks.

--------------------
Steve Cooke
http://soundcloud.com/stevecooke

Yes, can't say I ever understood those soft cases. Good for temporary mobile storage but who the hell uses a portable CD player nowadays? It seemed to become such a fad in the 90s but what happened when your collection was so large you ended up with those massive Case Logic CD books that were unstackable and unpractical to store themselves! And people would put their CD booklets behind the CDs so if you had one with no metadata (you gotta love CD design BTW) you couldnt tell what it was - never mind the CD is being rubbed against the sharp edge of the booklet when placing it back. And they were expensive! And finally, should you decide down the line that you want to sell or trade CDs - cash convertors, eBay etc- you're screwed cause you haven't got the jewel case.

I buy vinyl myself. They don't make Case Logic that big

ken

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I'm All Ears.

Quote comradec:

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Hmm. Now that I'm sitting here putting CDs into my new aluminium case I have to say it just doesn't feel right. All those jewel cases discarded and all that supplementary information on the back cards.

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I keep some of the back cards (at least where there was useful extra info) and slot them in with the booklet. Unfortunately this sometimes means trimming the edges with scissors, which is rather boring.

However, in the main, the info is duplicated in the booklet, or is little more than a track listing, which comes from the gracenote CDDB anyway. So most of the back cards get binned, along with the "jewel" cases.

Quote:

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And the CDs are not very accessible at all. It would be hard work finding a specific one, even with the alphabetical ordering.

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Sorry to hear you find that. I don't have much problem with the case I got.

(Tho the CDs are certainly more accessible in iTunes, with the instant search and browsing facilities...)

Quote Ken Long:

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Yes, can't say I ever understood those soft cases. Good for temporary mobile storage but who the hell uses a portable CD player nowadays? It seemed to become such a fad in the 90s

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Pretty sure comradec is talking about hard cases, not the fold out soft cases.

The 90s "portable CD player" scenario is fairly similar to the car sitution.

(which will probably go the same way, when more people get hard disks, or USB ports in their cars)

Quote:

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I buy vinyl myself. They don't make Case Logic that big

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Right...!

Quote Chris Edwards:

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The 90s "portable CD player" scenario is fairly similar to the car sitution.

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Hey! I'm still on compact cassette in mine, give me time to catch up!

ken

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I'm All Ears.