Help: CD storage

Subject: CD storage
From: VickiS
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 12:22 PM

How do you store your CD's and tapes?

This has got to be a common problem with this crowd --having far more music than ordinary storage racks allow for. I tried searching, but couldn't find the anything at all. Of course, this is my first try, so maybe I just missed it.

What works well and where can I buy it? I think drawers would be most efficient, because then I can have them more-than-one deep. (I know a couple of men who have all the walls in their entire living quarters covered floor to ceiling with little shelves of CD's. Come the "Big One" I think they will be in trouble.)

I tried the little drawer things available at Target and K-mart. You can stack them, so I figured that would work. They are so poorly made that if you stack them more than two high, the wood bends and I can't open the bottom one.

Thanks in advance, Vicki PS: Nice meeting you, Joe Offer, at camp. Thanks for reminding me about this site. Now that I'm done writing, where is the "preview message" button?

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 01:10 PM

Hmmm... I have mine in piles and boxes on my bedroom floor. "Storage".... This sounds like a good idea, eh?

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Dale Rose
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 01:29 PM

I am beginning to think no one uses it but me, but try The Mudcat HTML Editor. That is the closest we have to a preview message button. The way I use it, especially for more complicated messages is to compose in my word processor or in an email message, saving to draft every now and then. After I have it done (more or less) I copy and paste into the editor, then I hit the Preview button, and my message comes up the way it will look. If I am satisfied with it, then I paste it into the message blank. If not, then it is back to the original draft for necessary changes, then I do it again. For the most part, I don't use the other HTML aids on the page, preferring to do it myself.

As for storage, I think I am the wrong person to ask. Have you tried boxes, stacks, piles, plastic containers, wooden shelves, towers, conveniently strewn by the player, etc? I am afraid that is my method.

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Blackcatter
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 01:47 PM

Greetings,

I've just recently broken down and bought storage that I have been meaning to buy for a while. I hate to spend any money on storage 'cause I'd rather spend it on CDs.

I got one of thos CD binders. They come in many different sizes - I bought a 200 CD size one to put most of my Celtic stuff in. It fitsss both the CD and the booklet - so you actually only fit 100 CDS & 100 booklets in it. I cost $40 and I have given most of theee jewel cases to friends. It takes up a LOT LESS room, stores them safely, II put the binder in with my music books, I can take it anywhere easily, and it make the CDs something friends like to look at.

Hope this helps!

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Bernard
Date: 14 Jan 01 - 01:48 PM

I use a large metal filing cabinet - it handles the weight, and can't tip over because it only allows one drawer open at a time.

They can be found very cheaply at secondhand office furniture suppliers, and are so easy to decorate - loads of flat surfaces to stick posters, photographs, wallpaper, stencils, or whatever, and you can put plants, lamps, dead relatives, etc., on top!!

Admittedly they can be bulky, but a two-drawer one could double as a TV stand, two of them with a space between and some worktop across the top makes a desk, workbench or what have you.

I can get at least 300 standard CD's in one drawer, but you need to be organised! Make a list of what's in there, row by row, so you've a chance of finding something! That's where having a computer comes in useful!

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: VickiS
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 10:06 AM

Blackcatter: I hadn't thought of putting the CD booklets in the binder with the CD's. That is a very good idea. My big objection to any storage that involves taking the CDs out of the cases has been losing the cover information. Have you noticed that CDs have a lot less information on their labels than LPs do?

Bernard wrote:I use a large metal filing cabinet - it handles the weight, and can't tip over because it only allows one drawer open at a time.

Those are important considerations. I want something that can also maximize the storage space. I'd want to put the CDs two deep in a filing cabinet, and then the bottom ones would be very hard to get at.

It sounds to me like you are having trouble reading the CD spines. I put labels on the ones that didn't come that way.

Thanks for the suggestions. Any more?

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: GUEST,emily b
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 11:12 AM

The Container Store (and possibly others) has a wire holder that hangs over a door. Each one holds about 100 cd's and they have extenders that will attach another whole rack. I've hung mine on the inside of my closet so it's out of sight but reading through this just made me realize, when the time comes, I can hang one on the outside also. I'm not sure if a 3rd could be attached or not. There may not be enough room. They cost about $12 a piece.

Is anybody out there inventorying their cd's? I've started a spreadsheet listing all the tunes/songs on each album. This is tedious but hopefully will pay off when I am trying to find a tune among my collection. There's also the issue of what order to store them in. Alphabetical? By type of music? Numbered by order of purchase cross-referenced in a spreadsheet? Do we have time to do any of the above? Usually not.

Good luck!

Emily

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Snuffy
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 04:28 PM

Emily,

You don't have to store the CDs logically. It doesn't matter where you keep them and how you decide what to put where. As long as your spreadsheet tells you where that place is, you should always be able to find it. And you can sort the spreadsheet by artist, tune/song name, album name, purchase date or any other field that you've included to find the thing you're looking for.

If the spreadsheet says Leadbelly's in the bathroom closet and Dylan's #5 in the red drawer, that's where they'll be.

Always assuming you put things back where you get them from.

Wassail! V

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Sorcha
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 04:37 PM

My sister and her husband are DJ's and they went to a 2nd hand store and bought a wooden dresser with deep drawers. Each drawer is about 1/2" deeper than a jewel case. Might take a while to find one, but they weigh less than a file cabinet. To move you just take the drawers out one at a time, then take out the frame. You could refinish it so it looks nice, too!

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: mousethief
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 04:37 PM

And you don't lose your spreadsheet. That's the key to randomized storage systems; you mustn't lose the key!

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Blackcatter
Date: 18 Jan 01 - 08:37 PM

Thank God for spreadsheets! - my Celtic albums (in 3 formats - CD, tape & record) are all indexed by song - right now I have about 2500 different songs here and there. When I want to listen to a particular song to learn to sing or play it or whatever it only takes a few seconds.

I've found that the booklets in the CD binder are a must! Several of my CDs don't even have the band or title on them, let alone the songs. The binder has been great for me - I've taken my binder along with me to two different parties in the last month - and people wanted to look through it like it was a srapbook. I probably wouldn't put all my general CDs in books - partially because I'd have to buy 3 more and I have a nice rotating rack system right next to the stereo anyhow.

The other thing I'm thinking about getting eventually is a 300 CD changer/player - basically a jukebox. They're pretty reasonable and you can catalog your cds several ways in them. We'll see. Does anyone have one of those? I'd like to know how easy it is to remove CDs - and how the cataloging works.

Pax yall

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 02:35 AM

Hi, Vicki - it's a serious problem for me, because my collection is rather large. I get 5-shelf bookcases for about $100 for three of them, and then I assemble two and add extra shelves from the leftover bookcase. I put songbooks on the bottom shelves for ballast.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 11:39 AM

IKEA has lots of neat options for CD storage: shelves, cabinets, boxes, etc. in various materials and finishes. CD storage has been a problem with us for years and IKEA is the place to go if you need decent storage for lots and lots of CDs. We have a rotating shelf/cabinet thingy with space for 400+. It doesn't take up much floor space (about 12" by 12"). We have a tall narrow shelf that holds another bunch.

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 19 Jan 01 - 12:16 PM

Like everything else musical... Store it in a cool dry place...

;-)

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 27 Jun 01 - 05:25 PM

I use an old bookcase.

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Jun 01 - 08:32 PM

Found a revolving unit that holds about 600 at the United Furniture Store (I think this chain operates all over). The problem for me is that I have very little space for more of these units. I have expanded into old dressers (already mentioned) but my wife is starting to ask about where the stuff is going that I take out of the drawers. Thought about binders, but grit, in a dry, western location worries me. The binders require a closed cabinet so you are looking at quite an outlay per disc. The best way is to have library type shelving built to order in a special cd storage room. I am taking donations. Or is there no real solution for the cd-mad?

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Skipper Jack
Date: 28 Jun 01 - 02:33 PM

On the subject of CD storage.

I have put shelves up and I use a bookcase.

Mind you I have about 1500 CD's!!

They're mostly folk, roots, blues, acoustic and ethnic recordings collected from my radio days.

Some of them are absolute gems!

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Ron Olesko
Date: 28 Jun 01 - 05:32 PM

My lifesave has been Jewelsleeves. (Check them out at www.jewelsleeve.com - tell them that Ron sent you!)

As a program host of a radio show, I've accumlated over 2000 CD's. They were literally in every corner of the house. The jewelsleeve is an amazing invention - it is a plastic sleeve that holds the CD, the booklet, AND the jewel tray card(a must for a DJ!!). The sleeve is slightly larger than a CD case, but it takes up about 1/4 the space. I can now store all my CD's just like my old vinyl - in order! No more moving CD's out of slots in plastic racks that end up breaking. I bought a wooden CD shelving unit that holds 900 CD's the "old-fashioned" way. With the jewelsleeves the shelve is less than half empty with lots of room for expansion. I am in heaven!!

Okay, this sounds like a commercial endorsement, but it isn't. This is really a product that has made a big difference for me. No more searching for CD's in stacks that are in no particular order. I can find any CD within seconds. One other benefit - the jewelsleeves contain a thin layer of material that actually takes dust and dirt off the CD!! Now if it could only cook!!!!

One downside, which might be a big downside. They can be costly depending on how many you order. They start at $.50 apiece, down to $.44 in bulk. They also have a bunch of other "extras" such as dividers and traveling cases. I really think it is worth the investment.

Ron

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: John J at home
Date: 28 Jun 01 - 06:17 PM

Not really relevant, but in New Scientist magazine a couple of years back, they asked their readership for suggestions on what to do with all the junk CDs that came through the post. The answers were many and varied.

My favourite: The Firework Display. Place your CD in a microwave oven and switch onto full power. The pyrotechnics are superb (I tried) but it does pong a bit!

John

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: hesperis
Date: 28 Jun 01 - 08:41 PM

Give them to someone who might like them, especially if they DIDN'T get one... *hint* :)

Of course... what kind of junk?

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Tweedie
Date: 28 Jun 01 - 08:47 PM

I've tried a great many storage devices and thrown away most of them. What you need VickiS is the stackable open-box type that holds 60 cds. The CDs are held horizontally so you can read the spines and springy thingies push out each CD so you can grab it. At 10 pounds(UK) this works out at 16pence per CD and they'll be cheaper in the States with the lower tax. Give each of your CDs an aquisition number, and build a computer database as recommended by othe 'catters.

-OR- win the lottery and buy a 400 capacity SONY jukebox CD player.

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Fiolar
Date: 29 Jun 01 - 05:50 AM

Come on people move with the times. I have some 400 CDs and have just started converting them to MP3s. I reckon when I am finished I will have some 40 MP3s or so. All I need then is an MP3 player which I have already have checked out. The program I am using is "Easy CD Creator 5." A dawdle to use and as for storage - one CD tower will then suffice instead of the 10 or so I've got now.

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 29 Jun 01 - 06:20 AM

spreadsheets... argghhhhh you need to get out more!

I had a friend who used to store his cds alphabetically, when he bought a new one, he would spend hours rearranging them to fit them in....

PAINFUL

me.. I just stack em up on a holder, in drawers, on bookshelves... anywhere!

E

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Ron Olesko
Date: 29 Jun 01 - 09:26 AM

MP3's are good, but not great. MP3's are a compressed format, and depending on how the compression is done it can sound pretty lousy. Also, if you are storing the MP3's on a CD I would suggest you make serveral backup copies. CD's, especially the home versions, are not a medium that will last forever. One scratch, accidently leaving the CD where sunlight will hit it, and you've lost hours and hours of work.

As for moving with the times, I am glad to see you have all that time to convert 400 CD's. I am estimating that it will take you between 400 to 500 hours at a minimum to do all that work on a collection of that size. Those of us with larger collections simply don't have the time to convert.

WWW.JEWELSLEEVE.COM I am a huge fan, check it out, they will send you a sample.

Ron

Subject: RE: Help: CD storage
From: Fiolar
Date: 30 Jun 01 - 05:23 AM

To Ron - I have checked the times on two different computers. The slower one took about an hour and a quarter to about an hour and a half to convert a CD to MP3. The faster one does the job in about a half an hour. So 8 CDs takes me about two and a half hours and that includes burning the new MP3.