What should I do with my collection of audio CDs?

[finnski1]

Never even realized this was such a problem.
Then again I have about 200 or so cd's and still listen to them quite regularly in the vehicles both of which still have cd players.
The home audio system still has a 5 cd player that I occasionally stick 5 in there and hit random play.
Still enjoy them.
Still haven't done the online, download thing but then again I am generally a late adopter to most things, only use my phone as a phone and basic text and email functions. Still using my measly 37" 720P tv as well
Did finally put a new head unit in the old Tacoma so I could subscribe to sirus xm radio.

 

[Music Lover]

Never even realized this was such a problem.
Then again I have about 200 or so cd's and still listen to them quite regularly in the vehicles both of which still have cd players.
The home audio system still has a 5 cd player that I occasionally stick 5 in there and hit random play.
Still enjoy them.

I used to listen to CD's in my last vehicle as it had a 6 CD changer. Then I realized that it would play also mp3 files burned to CD so I made CD's of mp3's which was about 70 - 80 songs each. That gave me access to over 400 songs instead of 60 songs.

My latest car can play a single CD but also accepts a flash drive so now I have 1,600 songs available when driving. I've never played a CD in the car.

I've also ripped most of my CD's to my computer which is connected to my receiver so all my music listening is done from the computer. I also have a couple thousand songs on my phone and a portable Bluetooth speaker.

So now all my CD's are sitting in boxes in the garage.

 

[Momcpa]

We found a store that was selling/reselling OLD audio players, speakers, etc. We took in our son's old system years after he moved out on his own. I inquired if they took CDs also. Gave us a few cents for each of the CDs and a few dollars on the equipment. But it's out of the house, son is okay with it being gone and so are we.

 

[finnski1]

I used to listen to CD's in my last vehicle as it had a 6 CD changer. Then I realized that it would play also mp3 files burned to CD so I made CD's of mp3's which was about 70 - 80 songs each. That gave me access to over 400 songs instead of 60 songs.

My latest car can play a single CD but also accepts a flash drive so now I have 1,600 songs available when driving. I've never played a CD in the car.

I've also ripped most of my CD's to my computer which is connected to my receiver so all my music listening is done from the computer. I also have a couple thousand songs on my phone and a portable Bluetooth speaker.

So now all my CD's are sitting in boxes in the garage.

Yeah I put a new head unit in my truck which will accept many formats. I however am lazy and haven't done all the steps required to utilize them.
Also , my home audio equipment is still separate amplifier, preamp/tuner, large floor standing speakers etc. and I don't even know if it accepts any digital inputs etc. Certainly has no blue tooth functions, but till sounds fantastic.
As great as all the new wireless and miniature speakers sound, it is still hard to beat the laws of physics and I very much enjoy the large drivers in my speakers. Even if my wife never enjoyed the amount of floor space they take up.

 

[Music Lover]

Yeah I put a new head unit in my truck which will accept many formats. I however am lazy and haven't done all the steps required to utilize them.
Also , my home audio equipment is still separate amplifier, preamp/tuner, large floor standing speakers etc. and I don't even know if it accepts any digital inputs etc. Certainly has no blue tooth functions, but till sounds fantastic.
As great as all the new wireless and miniature speakers sound, it is still hard to beat the laws of physics and I very much enjoy the large drivers in my speakers. Even if my wife never enjoyed the amount of floor space they take up.

I have a nice pair of tower speakers as I also enjoy the laws of physics. All music in the house and the TV are routed through them.

To send music from my computer to the receiver I use the 1/8" stereo out from the computer's sound card to left and right RCA jacks on the receiver connected to the CD input. The CD input accepts a digital signal and the rare time I actually want to play a CD I'll just use the computer instead of a standalone CD player.

 

[RunningBum]

Like Midpack, I like to keep the CDs as proof for my mp3 conversions. I still have a 100 CD player that I use once in awhile. Otherwise I'm all digital via mp3 players for running, a USB stub for my car, and Plex thru my TV & surround sound system for home. The first two especially are big improvements.

I bought a batch of thin sleeves to try, to see about getting rid of the jewel cases and reducing the size needed, but only did a couple just to try it. My CDs take up one bookcase shelf that I don't know what I'd use it for otherwise, so I'm not really motivated with a problem to solve. I may not bother doing anything until I finally get ready to move from here, which could be 20 years. Probably easier to find CDs in the jewel cases rather than in sleeves, unless I have them ordered. When I look at clutter in the house, my CD collection (maybe 400?) is just a blip.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Yeah I put a new head unit in my truck which will accept many formats. I however am lazy and haven't done all the steps required to utilize them.

If that new stereo unit in your truck accepts a USB stick, I implore you to take advantage of it. I have a USB stick with 1,200 songs on it. When in my truck I rarely listen to music on the radio anymore.

Also , my home audio equipment is still separate amplifier, preamp/tuner, large floor standing speakers etc. and I don't even know if it accepts any digital inputs etc. Certainly has no blue tooth functions, but till sounds fantastic.
As great as all the new wireless and miniature speakers sound, it is still hard to beat the laws of physics and I very much enjoy the large drivers in my speakers. Even if my wife never enjoyed the amount of floor space they take up.

There is no substitute for larger speakers moving plenty of air. The smallish bookshelf speakers or soundbars just can't move the volume of air like floor standers.

I recently sold my 30 year old Polk Monitor 10B's and got a new set of tower speakers, Chane A5.5's. The new set sounds better and take up far less space, in fact I think they are rather attractive. My wife approves of them as well.

 

[O2Bfree]

If you're feeling artistic, CDs make great scales for giant fish sculpture.

 

[kcowan]

...I used to have a DJ friend in Minneapolis, who had 30,000 pieces of vinyl in his house. He passed away about 15 years ago. Someone must have had fun clearing out his place.

When my brother passed away, he had his and my vinyl collections. Tried to sell them to a dealer then offered them in an estate sale; $1 each then .50 then .25 then free then trash. About half went to trash.

I used to listen to CD's in my last vehicle as it had a 6 CD changer. Then I realized that it would play also mp3 files burned to CD so I made CD's of mp3's which was about 70 - 80 songs each. That gave me access to over 400 songs instead of 60 songs.

Yes i still have all those ripped CDs in the 6 CD changer. That will go this year with the car and then just streaming. It is amazing how audio and video have lost their value over the years.

(In Mexico, our entertainment choices during Covid are on a Firestick: Cinema HD and two live TV apps: TvTap and Ola)

 

[finnski1]

I have a nice pair of tower speakers as I also enjoy the laws of physics. All music in the house and the TV are routed through them.

To send music from my computer to the receiver I use the 1/8" stereo out from the computer's sound card to left and right RCA jacks on the receiver connected to the CD input. The CD input accepts a digital signal and the rare time I actually want to play a CD I'll just use the computer instead of a standalone CD player.

Thanks for the set up tips. I'll have to investigate further

 

[finnski1]

If that new stereo unit in your truck accepts a USB stick, I implore you to take advantage of it. I have a USB stick with 1,200 songs on it. When in my truck I rarely listen to music on the radio anymore.







There is no substitute for larger speakers moving plenty of air. The smallish bookshelf speakers or soundbars just can't move the volume of air like floor standers.

I recently sold my 30 year old Polk Monitor 10B's and got a new set of tower speakers, Chane A5.5's. The new set sounds better and take up far less space, in fact I think they are rather attractive. My wife approves of them as well.

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But how much effort was required to get all those songs on the usb stick and it would take me a long time just to figure out what I want on there




Never heard of that brand(Chane) but look like they could be a good value.
I still use the Snell EIII's I bought in 1994 and still sound very good. Traditional floor standing speakers with 8" woofers and a tweeter. No longer in business but were highly regarded in their day. Wife has accepted them.

 

[RunningBum]

But how much effort was required to get all those songs on the usb stick and it would take me a long time just to figure out what I want on there

That's requires a multi part answer.

If you don't have the music in digital format at all, it's fairly tedious to rip all of your CDs to digital. Not hard, but it's an effort. For other reasons, I did this a long time ago, and I rarely get actual CDs anymore.

Once in digital format, it's pretty trivial to do the copy to the stick, though as you say you'll take more time trying to decide what to put on and what to leave out.

Then you have to figure out how to organize them so that they show up logically in your truck. I have a feeling you've decided well before this not to bother, so I won't get into it. The most puzzling thing to me was why Pink Floyd's "The Wall" wasn't playing in the right order. Something about it reading only the first 32 characters of a song title, or something like that. Most albums don't really matter, but The Wall really needs to be in order.

 

[finnski1]

That's requires a multi part answer.

If you don't have the music in digital format at all, it's fairly tedious to rip all of your CDs to digital. Not hard, but it's an effort. For other reasons, I did this a long time ago, and I rarely get actual CDs anymore.

Once in digital format, it's pretty trivial to do the copy to the stick, though as you say you'll take more time trying to decide what to put on and what to leave out.

Then you have to figure out how to organize them so that they show up logically in your truck. I have a feeling you've decided well before this not to bother, so I won't get into it. The most puzzling thing to me was why Pink Floyd's "The Wall" wasn't playing in the right order. Something about it reading only the first 32 characters of a song title, or something like that. Most albums don't really matter, but The Wall really needs to be in order.

Yeah none are in digital format so am probably in no hurry to do it but it sounds like it would be worthwhile.

 

[catii]

Surprised that no one seems to listen to the old songs on their CDs. I've digitized mine, & created quite a number of playlists, for listening enjoyment by my wife & me. Sure, I could do the same with my Amazon subscription, but this was something I did in my spare time. CDs were donated to the library years ago.

 

[finnski1]

Surprised that no one seems to listen to the old songs on their CDs. I've digitized mine, & created quite a number of playlists, for listening enjoyment by my wife & me. Sure, I could do the same with my Amazon subscription, but this was something I did in my spare time. CDs were donated to the library years ago.

Not sure what you mean by "the old songs" but most of my cd's are already old and I listen to whole albums that way.
So I listen to most of the cd including the obscure album tracks, I have found many of my "favorite" songs by listening to the whole disc.

 

[RunningBum]

Surprised that no one seems to listen to the old songs on their CDs. I've digitized mine, & created quite a number of playlists, for listening enjoyment by my wife & me. Sure, I could do the same with my Amazon subscription, but this was something I did in my spare time.

I mostly listen to my old CDs in digital format. The disadvantage is that I don't tend to expand my library with new music that often, but anyone who gets on my case about that can GET OFF MY LAWN!

I do pick up some music through TV or movies. I hear something I like, then look up the soundtrack for the movie or TV episode, then buy and download it. I'll often check out the artist's other music to see if I like other stuff.

 

[Music Lover]

Then you have to figure out how to organize them so that they show up logically in your truck. I have a feeling you've decided well before this not to bother, so I won't get into it. The most puzzling thing to me was why Pink Floyd's "The Wall" wasn't playing in the right order. Something about it reading only the first 32 characters of a song title, or something like that. Most albums don't really matter, but The Wall really needs to be in order.

The first time I made a flash drive of 1600 songs I found out that my car couldn't go past 999

The solution was to make 2 folders A-L and M-Z. But then if you were looking for a song you had to scroll forever. So I made folders for every letter plus the numbers (38 Special, 54-40, etc). So 27 folders making it a lot easier to find a particular band or song.

So now it's either on shuffle for all songs, or I choose a letter at random and listen to those bands for a while (for P it's Pearl Jam, Tom Petty, Pretenders, Pink Floyd, etc.). I've given up trying to play a full CD in song order.

 

[RunningBum]

I have 3 types of folders:
- by artist, if I only have 1 CD or any number of singles by them
- by CD, from an artist I keep a lot of CDs of
- by genre for the singles I've collected, or when I just like a song or two of an artist. Just for example, I got a Mason Williams CD a number of years ago, but only like Classical Gas, so I put that one in a singles folder where I'll hear it a lot more, since I'd probably never play the whole CD.

I think my car's system has a limit of 256 songs in a folder, so for some genres I have a *1, *2, *3 folder.

Not sure how many folders I have. Maybe 50-75? It's not that hard or distracting to scroll through them while driving, though I rarely try unless I'm in light traffic or at a light. I see about 5 folders at a time while viewing folders in my Subaru Forester. I put a new head unit in my old Miata a few years back and I can't view folders by name, so I just put a bunch of singles on a memory card and use random order. I don't take long trips in that car anyway.

Overall I'm very happy with this system, and it's a lot better than finding and swapping CDs.

 

[finnski1]

I have 3 types of folders:
- by artist, if I only have 1 CD or any number of singles by them
- by CD, from an artist I keep a lot of CDs of
- by genre for the singles I've collected, or when I just like a song or two of an artist. Just for example, I got a Mason Williams CD a number of years ago, but only like Classical Gas, so I put that one in a singles folder where I'll hear it a lot more, since I'd probably never play the whole CD.

I think my car's system has a limit of 256 songs in a folder, so for some genres I have a *1, *2, *3 folder.

Not sure how many folders I have. Maybe 50-75? It's not that hard or distracting to scroll through them while driving, though I rarely try unless I'm in light traffic or at a light. I see about 5 folders at a time while viewing folders in my Subaru Forester. I put a new head unit in my old Miata a few years back and I can't view folders by name, so I just put a bunch of singles on a memory card and use random order. I don't take long trips in that car anyway.

Overall I'm very happy with this system, and it's a lot better than finding and swapping CDs.

If you guys aren't careful you're going to talk me into doing something soon. Knock it off.

 

[Music Lover]

If you guys aren't careful you're going to talk me into doing something soon. Knock it off.

We're here if you need some help...

 

[finnski1]

We're here if you need some help...

This is where they reside. In the sunroom out of the way

 

[RunningBum]

We're here if you need some help...

Just try it with a couple CDs, our help is free on the first one...

 

[Jerry1]

If you guys aren't careful you're going to talk me into doing something soon. Knock it off.

We're here if you need some help...

Just try it with a couple CDs, our help is free on the first one...

Yeah, it’s not hard at all, it’s just time consuming until you get all of you CDs ripped. Then organizing them in a way that works best can take some time. I mostly stream music now, but I keep a flash drive with all my CDs on it in the truck in case I hit a dead zone while traveling. Pretty cool how a whole library of CDs can fit on one little fob.

 

[Qs Laptop]

But how much effort was required to get all those songs on the usb stick and it would take me a long time just to figure out what I want on there

Windows Media Player makes it fairly easy to rip CD's. It's mostly an automatic process and might take 3-4 minutes per disc.

Never heard of that brand(Chane) but look like they could be a good value.
I still use the Snell EIII's I bought in 1994 and still sound very good. Traditional floor standing speakers with 8" woofers and a tweeter. No longer in business but were highly regarded in their day. Wife has accepted them.

I have heard of the Snell name and they have a great reputation.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Then you have to figure out how to organize them so that they show up logically in your truck. I have a feeling you've decided well before this not to bother, so I won't get into it. The most puzzling thing to me was why Pink Floyd's "The Wall" wasn't playing in the right order. Something about it reading only the first 32 characters of a song title, or something like that. Most albums don't really matter, but The Wall really needs to be in order.

Usually, to have them play songs in order from a USB stick your vehicle needs to be able to read the Track # tag that is embedded in the mp3 tagging system. If your vehicle can't read this tag, or the mp3 recording doesn't have a Track # tag embedded in the recording, the workaround is to put the track number in the song title.

So for "The Wall", instead of the track listing being:

In the Flesh?
The Thin Ice
Another Brick in the Wall , Part 1

etc.

you would need to manually retitle the tracks using a program like MP3Tag and rename the titles:

01 In the Flesh?
02 The Thin Ice
03 Another Brick in the Wall , Part 1

If you do this the songs should play in order.