In Search Of: Storage Ideas for CDs

[Horbus]

I also rip all my CD's. Every new one (new or used) will be ripped instantly and if not really needed for whatever reason to keep it I get rid of it by selling in bulk at ebay or donating to thrift stores. This helped to solve my space problem. For the rest (MCH stuff) I have one cabinet and a wall mounted CD shelf.

 

[Petr Kropotkin]

Measured up some shelves, the place selling the pinewood cut them for me for free, and used besser blocks. Cheap, and they line a wall, so not much space taken up, obviously portable, nothing fixed. This is just one wall, there are other walls as I have about 15,000 CDs:

 

[Willie Wilson]

I use these cabinets for CDs.

https://can-am.ca/CD-storage-DVD-st...MIxOO5-5KxhwMVoR6tBh1e2woFEAAYASAAEgLYf_D_BwE

They are high capacity in a small space and seem to be well-built. I bought mine 20 years ago, so I have not checked prices recently.

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I have these cabinets as well. They have lasted 25 years, survived three moves and still work just fine. Really like these as a permanent solution.

 

[madscot]

When I had all my cd’s on display I found the cheapest and easiest way was to buy a few pieces of tongue and groove timber (not to slot into each other, just that it was cheap and sturdy (6’ long) I gave them a nice coat of paint to suit the decor of the room, if I remember right each shelf held about 170/180 cd’s, it doesn’t take up a lot of room, basically the width of a jewel case and gives you easy access to them, hang the shelving with nice metal brackets with just enough space between them to get as many shelves as you possibly can within easy reach

 

[MTB Vince]

About 15 years ago I was shopping for a unified modular storage system for my CD, DVD-A, and SACD collection. I discovered and invested in the modular media shelving from Boltz.com and have used it happily ever since.

 

[barfle]

I know you’re not into DIY (I actually did read your OP), but when I was figuring out my room, I knew I had a significant LP and LD collection to shelve, so I knew the shelves had to be something over a foot deep. That made the idea of storing those shiny little discs in drawers quite easy to implement.

I’ve been buying those discs like crazy lately, but I’m not running out of room any time soon. Yes, it’s finite, but it’s working well.

Some drawers are for pop, some classical, and some for those damned DVD packaged discs that take up more room than is justified. So far, so good.

 

[marksk]

Stack the wine creates on their side.
Screw two 6' x 6" x 1" boards to each side.
Anchor to the wall.

Slightly diy but probably no different than assembling IKEA shelving

 

[Sal1950]

I like to rip my discs to hard drives but that still won't solve his storage problem. Some of us (collector types) like to keep the physical discs as well, even if they seldom if ever get played anymore.

Yea I kept all mine too when I lived up north, plenty of room in those big ole houses.
I had mine in crates like yours in the basement but when I moved to FL they had to go.

 

[stoopid]

Adding further to the chaos, I'd like to do the usual PSA of not being a pack rat. I've personally trimmed down my collection to being 99% titles I actually like/will listen to, even if it's just once/year. Everything else gets put up on eBay/sold off (including some recently demoted stuff).

Less stuff means the solution becomes simpler/cheaper/tidier.

Like me I get that you want the full disc package (namely the art). I'm also a fan of having the physical medium as a fairly durable storage of the music long term. Almost everything I have is digitized, favorites to FLAC and stuff less played on high bitrate MP3. Compact discs rarely hit the player. But being honest with yourself, and doing the math on hours in a day available for music appreciation multiplied by days in the year divided by total hours hours of music 'hoarded', you could easily prune a portion of the collection and not realize they were ever sold off/given away.

 

[sakst42]

About 15 years ago I was shopping for a unified modular storage system for my CD, DVD-A, and SACD collection. I discovered and invested in the modular media shelving from Boltz.com and have used it happily ever since.

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Thanks @MTB Vince ! Nice touch with the spot lights...

 

[sakst42]

Stack the wine creates on their side.
Screw two 6' x 6" x 1" boards to each side.
Anchor to the wall.

Slightly diy but probably no different than assembling IKEA shelving

@marksk - thank you! definitely thought provoking!

 

[sakst42]

Adding further to the chaos, I'd like to do the usual PSA of not being a pack rat. I've personally trimmed down my collection to being 99% titles I actually like/will listen to, even if it's just once/year. Everything else gets put up on eBay/sold off (including some recently demoted stuff).

Less stuff means the solution becomes simpler/cheaper/tidier.

Like me I get that you want the full disc package (namely the art). I'm also a fan of having the physical medium as a fairly durable storage of the music long term. Almost everything I have is digitized, favorites to FLAC and stuff less played on high bitrate MP3. Compact discs rarely hit the player. But being honest with yourself, and doing the math on hours in a day available for music appreciation multiplied by days in the year divided by total hours hours of music 'hoarded', you could easily prune a portion of the collection and not realize they were ever sold off/given away.

Definitely agree with your overall points! This has triggered a slight panic. The house needs an overall cleanse! I have the time but how should I choose decluttering over ... smelling the roses for a change? My brain operates in a binary fashion. Finding balance is kinda tough.

Stoopid advice definitely welcome!

(PS: I originally wanted to say - "Got any more Stoopid advice for me?"... but you never know, you know? )

 

[stoopid]

Pick music/bands that mean something to you, don't collect things just to have them. Especially if there's resale value to those things, it's literally money collecting dust and if it costs you money to store them (including the solution and time behind the purpose of this thread) you're effectively paying to hoard.

 

[marpow]

I do intend to rip them starting this year... but in the meanwhile, I would like an elegant solution to "quiet my mind" Hope that makes sense

Ripping with an extensive collection is the only answer to storage.
However, it still does not solve the problem of storage assuming you do not sell the hard discs.
Ripping, is an art form that takes awhile to cultivate.
Different software for different resolutions of discs, stereo vs mch.
Then you have playback of the digital files, many options.
I am fortunate to be advanced in ripping and playback, but a lot of hard work and learning was involved.
I learned everything from members on QQ. Feel free to PM me if you ever have any questions.
Your CD's of course are the best and easiest place to start.

Regarding my storage, I have a place at work. I can put in cardboard boxes and store them at work, or a person can store in garage or attic (maybe too hot).
For disc's that don't go to my shop and stay home, I have a closet that most of the Hi Res and MCH stuff stays at home. The closet solves the "out of mind" problem and every once in awhile I reorganize for a proper closet.

 

[sakst42]

Ripping with an extensive collection is the only answer to storage.
However, it still does not solve the problem of storage assuming you do not sell the hard discs.
Ripping, is an art form that takes awhile to cultivate.
Different software for different resolutions of discs, stereo vs mch.
Then you have playback of the digital files, many options.
I am fortunate to be advanced in ripping and playback, but a lot of hard work and learning was involved.
I learned everything from members on QQ. Feel free to PM me if you ever have any questions.
Your CD's of course are the best and easiest place to start.

Regarding my storage, I have a place at work. I can put in cardboard boxes and store them at work, or a person can store in garage or attic (maybe too hot).
For disc's that don't go to my shop and stay home, I have a closet that most of the Hi Res and MCH stuff stays at home. The closet solves the "out of mind" problem and every once in awhile I reorganize for a proper closet.
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@marpow - thanks for sharing the pictures! And will take you up on your offer re: ripping the various formats, further down the line...

 

[MTB Vince]

In an earlier post to this thread @Sal1950 mentioned Ikea's Kallax shelving system. However Kallax's 13" cube cubbies are much better suited to vinyl record storage than the packaging 5" optical disc media comes in. Here is another cost effective physical media storage option also from Ikea that is more living room friendly @sakst42.

When Salamander designs discontinued the shallow Synergy media storage cabinets I had already invested in, I needed a visually complimentary option to address our expanding 4k and Blu Ray movie collection. It turns out Ikea does have a great solution for silver discs as well in the form of their shallow 7" deep version of the Besta modular cabinets. These are the perfect depth for optical disc media storage. You just add additional adjustable glass shelves to suit the case height of the disc format you are storing. They come in a bunch of different colors and faux wood finishes. You can use the included adjustable feet to stack them from floor height, or retrofit short adjustable cabinet legs to the base cabinet and stack from there, or hang them from the walls using their clever french cleat mounting option. I've done both of the latter as seen in the pics below.

 

[sakst42]

In an earlier post to this thread @Sal1950 mentioned Ikea's Kallax shelving system. However Kallax's 13" cube cubbies are much better suited to vinyl record storage than the packaging 5" optical disc media comes in. Here is another cost effective physical media storage option also from Ikea that is more living room friendly @sakst42.

When Salamander designs discontinued the shallow Synergy media storage cabinets I had already invested in, I needed a visually complimentary option to address our expanding 4k and Blu Ray movie collection. It turns out Ikea does have a great solution for silver discs as well in the form of their shallow 7" deep version of the Besta modular cabinets. These are the perfect depth for optical disc media storage. You just add additional adjustable glass shelves to suit the case height of the disc format you are storing. They come in a bunch of different colors and faux wood finishes. You can use the included adjustable feet to stack them from floor height, or retrofit short adjustable cabinet legs to the base cabinet and stack from there, or hang them from the walls using their clever french cleat mounting option. I've done both of the latter as seen in the pics below.

View attachment 107826

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Appreciate the detailed photo - @MTB Vince!

 

[Sal1950]

In an earlier post to this thread @Sal1950 mentioned Ikea's Kallax shelving system. However Kallax's 13" cube cubbies are much better suited to vinyl record storage than the packaging 5" optical disc media comes in.

True but just to mention there are more ways than worthy of discussion here to add a center shelf and have 2 6" height bins for CD storage in each cube.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/kallax-insert-with-1-shelf-white-20423720/
Both are incredibly versatile systems with only your mind as a limit.
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/cat/inserts-accessories-for-kallax-58286/

 

[Perp]

This is a great Thread idea. I, too, have been looking for a storage solution. In fact, for many years now. More like decades. There are great recommendations here. Thanks to all that have shared ideas and links. I tend to favor the steel drawer units but they look to be on the pricey side, of course, for good reason.

 

[Proraso]

Apologies if this is breaking the bank, but I've been using the Prepac Quad Width storage cabinet for some time. Holds 1520 CDs, technically. I store about 1000 CDs and about 200 DVD-A, SACD, Bluray Audio, DVD-V, and a few books. Got mine for about $250 if memory serves. Relatively easy to assemble, but it is big. I'm in the process of moving it to a new media room in the basement and I've had to disassemble to get it down there.

Anyway, hope it helps and hope I'm not repeating anyone else, as I'm mostly a lurker.
Good luck!

https://www.prepacmfg.com/product/quad-width-wall-storage-0