What does your collection look like and how do you organize it?

[Jo498]

Had to move the collection upstairs while renovating the basement. The jazz music is in the bedroom and the classical collection, much to my wife's horror, is in the middle of the dining room.

Not sure how long I can leave it this way before she starts tossing discs into bins... or onto the street!

You really got a lot of big "complete" boxes. Overall it looks very colorful and nice, I don't know what your wife is complaining about...

[Richard]

Remarkable collection. Looks like your collection is also well-organized. You should do a YouTube video and take us on a tour of your collection and perhaps even point out some of your favorite recordings.

My kids are pushing me to do just that. I'm not much of a youtube guy, but we'll see.

Thanks for the feedback. It was better organized when it was quite so compacted in the media room downstairs.

And thanks for all your helpful recommendations. I read your posts with anticipation each week.

[Richard]

You really got a lot of big "complete" boxes. Overall it looks very colorful and nice, I don't know what your wife is complaining about...

Yes, those boxes have been a treasure chest for someone like me who wasn't alive or collecting in the golden age of classical recordings. I tend to scan a box and if at least half of the contents are of interest to me I consider it a bargain. Lots of discs go unplayed, but lots more than have provided hours of enjoyment.

The big Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra legacy box, in particular, was an incredible journey through the decades.

[asin]B00G6N4GLO[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

My kids are pushing me to do just that. I'm not much of a youtube guy, but we'll see.

Thanks for the feedback. It was better organized when it was quite so compacted in the media room downstairs.

And thanks for all your helpful recommendations. I read your posts with anticipation each week.

You're welcome. It's always nice seeing someone as enthusiastic, and passionate, about this music as I am.

PS. Yes! You should definitely consider the YouTube video. I'd give a thumbs up (or whatever it is called on YT) right now.

[Turner]

Remarkable collection. Looks like your collection is also well-organized. You should do a YouTube video and take us on a tour of your collection and perhaps even point out some of your favorite recordings.

+1
... great to be able to identify a bunch of the items on the photo!

[PerfectWagnerite]

Had to move the collection upstairs while renovating the basement. The jazz music is in the bedroom and the classical collection, much to my wife's horror, is in the middle of the dining room.

Not sure how long I can leave it this way before she starts tossing discs into bins... or onto the street!

Mine only has 2 shelves and also grows up to the ceiling like yours. Those looks EXACTLY like the shelves I have. Are they from IKEA?

[Richard]

Mine only has 2 shelves and also grows up to the ceiling like yours. Those looks EXACTLY like the shelves I have. Are they from IKEA?

Yes. They are all Ikea shelves. The taller ones are the "Billy" model. Ideal for CD storage. The shorter ones I bought many years ago. I don't think Idea sells them anymore. "Benno" maybe?

[Florestan]

1.

Currently: two laptops (Lenovo 1.5 T and HP 1 T) and one external HD (Western Digital 1.5 T). Running out of space at an alarming pace (involuntary rhyme).

Formerly: about 500 CDs / LPs / cassettes taken together (still have them all, stored in the house of my in-laws)

2. Era > Composers / Compilations

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

Had to move the collection upstairs while renovating the basement. The jazz music is in the bedroom and the classical collection, much to my wife's horror, is in the middle of the dining room.

Not sure how long I can leave it this way before she starts tossing discs into bins... or onto the street!

Horror is the right word. 

[Brian]

After seeing that picture, I've concluded that I don't actually have CDCDCD.

If he wants to listen to the Hyperion Schubert songs, he has to remove like 9 other boxes to get to it!

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

After seeing that picture, I've concluded that I don't actually have CDCDCD.

If he wants to listen to the Hyperion Schubert songs, he has to remove like 9 other boxes to get to it!

I think if I put my CDs in one place it would be worse.

Now it mostly looks like stacks of plastic boxes in a self-storage unit. I few fancy original cover box sets are on shelves in the house.

[aukhawk]

Mine looks a bit like this

[Florestan]

Mine looks a bit like this

[ChopinBroccoli]

Some of the collections in this thread are insane!

I have about 150 "classical" albums encompassing is guess about 500-750 individual pieces of music (a lot of piano)... I find a performance of a given piece that I like best and go with it... in a few instances I'll have more than one if a really different interpretation tickles my fancy (for example I've got three very different readings of Mozart's 20th Concerto) but for the most part I've got a clear preference ... YouTube has been a godsend in making that process vastly less time consuming... in the old days I had to rely on a combination of Penguin Record Guide, whatever limited recordings I could hear at a library for free or those shoddy "listening stations" at record stores to try and narrow things down

It's simply cost prohibitive to me to have 35 different recordings of Beethoven 5 when probably 20 of them will sound pretty much the same, 5 will be downright bad and maybe 10 will be distinguished in some way... so I researched, saw ones given high marks by numerous sources, gave each one some listens and decided that Carlos Kleiber's was a clear first choice, so I bought it and if I want to listen to that symphony, I put that on. 

My jazz collection is a bit less sane, probably a good 350 albums and most of the real 20th century classics from Duke through 70s fusion

Plus another 300-400 or so albums encompassing Rock n Roll, R&B, Soul, Funk, Bluegrass, Blues, etc

If I could spend more freely, I'd maybe indulge in 10 different performances of the same work but I stick with only performances that really stand out and are special (to me, of course... my "special" might be your "tedious")

[SymphonicAddict]

It's simply cost prohibitive to me to have 35 different recordings of Beethoven 5 when probably 20 of them will sound pretty much the same, 5 will be downright bad and maybe 10 will be distinguished in some way...

This is more or less me. Not sure whether it is an advantage or not, but I often fail to feel significant differences between recordings, so I stick with some of them and don't have the need to acquire every recording. Overall, for me it's a bit pointless to do it so, and it's perfectly good for those who feel happy to gather them, nonetheless. And definitely Beethoven is the perfect example: countless recorded cycles of his symphonies. I only have 4 or 5 and that's it.

[Florestan]

This is more or less me. Not sure whether it is an advantage or not, but I often fail to feel significant differences between recordings, so I stick with some of them and don't have the need to acquire every recording. Overall, for me it's a bit pointless to do it so, and it's perfectly good for those who feel happy to gather them, nonetheless. And definitely Beethoven is the perfect example: countless recorded cycles of his symphonies. I only have 4 or 5 and that's it.

Even though I have multiple recordings of the same work, especially the usual suspects, I never did any comparative listening and I doubt I'll ever do any. I live for the moment: whatever recording I'm listening to it's what I enjoy. Beside, a comparative listening would be pointless in my case. The performers are (in most cases consummate) professionals who have studied attentively the scores they play and could, if need be, explain and uphold their interpretive choices based precisely on that study. Who am I to contradict them? I have neither the scores nor the ability to read them, and I am completely illiterate when it comes to music's technicalities. How could I ever say who plays better and why? So I just relax and enjoy the music as it comes.

[ChopinBroccoli]

This is more or less me. Not sure whether it is an advantage or not, but I often fail to feel significant differences between recordings, so I stick with some of them and don't have the need to acquire every recording. Overall, for me it's a bit pointless to do it so, and it's perfectly good for those who feel happy to gather them, nonetheless. And definitely Beethoven is the perfect example: countless recorded cycles of his symphonies. I only have 4 or 5 and that's it.

Exactly... beyond a certain threshold, there fails to be much to distinguish the numerous cycles

[Fëanor]

This is more or less me. Not sure whether it is an advantage or not, but I often fail to feel significant differences between recordings, so I stick with some of them and don't have the need to acquire every recording. Overall, for me it's a bit pointless to do it so, and it's perfectly good for those who feel happy to gather them, nonetheless. And definitely Beethoven is the perfect example: countless recorded cycles of his symphonies. I only have 4 or 5 and that's it.

Frankly the differences I most care about are sonic differences.  IMO and to my ear, there are very significant differences in sound quality (SQ) among recordings.

I'm not a trained musician so the difference between an excellent performance and a merely good performance  is rarely noticeable.  Philistine audiophile that I am, I'd rather listen to the recording with merely good performance but excellent sound than the (reputedly) excellent performance with crappy sound.

[ChopinBroccoli]

Frankly the differences I most care about are sonic differences.  IMO and to my ear, there are very significant differences in sound quality (SQ) among recordings.

I'm not a trained musician so the difference between an excellent performance and a merely good performance  is rarely noticeable.  Philistine audiophile that I am, I'd rather listen to the recording with merely good performance but excellent sound than the (reputedly) excellent performance with crappy sound.

Haha, I'm literally the opposite (up to a point obviously... I wouldn't want a 1920 wax cylinder as my first choice for a piece)

The quality of the interpretation is what I'm after

[kyjo]

Even though I have multiple recordings of the same work, especially the usual suspects, I never did any comparative listening and I doubt I'll ever do any. I live for the moment: whatever recording I'm listening to it's what I enjoy. Beside, a comparative listening would be pointless in my case. The performers are (in most cases consummate) professionals who have studied attentively the scores they play and could, if need be, explain and uphold their interpretive choices based precisely on that study. Who am I to contradict them? I have neither the scores nor the ability to read them, and I am completely illiterate when it comes to music's technicalities. How could I ever say who plays better and why? So I just relax and enjoy the music as it comes.

Completely agree with this. Despite being a performer, I have never felt the need to compare different recordings of the same piece side-by-side with one another. I'm much more interested in exploring the vast amount of music that's out there.