Broken CD cases

[LeMartinPecheur]

I recently dropped and broke the box of a brand-new 4-CD set. Not having any such spares lying around (I don't buy many 4-CD sets), I resorted to SuperGlue more in hope than expectation. Much to my surprise it worked like a dream, even on the weak projecting bit that carries the hinge-spigot.

Since then I've tried it on the even longer, even more frequently broken, spigot projections of standard single-CD case-fronts with equal success.

Maybe you've all got there before me but just in case it helps...

[kea]

Broken jewel cases don't bother me much, as I have quite a few extra cases whose discs have gone missing somehow, but my carelessness with CDs has been particularly problematic with the increased ubiquity of flimsier digipacks. A recent one received an unsightly tear as I was tearing off the wrapping in order to give to the artist to sign. And then I accidentally smeared part of her signature by not waiting long enough for the ink to dry.

Could probably glue that together, and match every CD in my collection to its proper case (they end up all over the place—most bizarrely a Shostakovich CD inside the jewel case of a hip-hop album by 50 Cent that I'm sure I've never listened to), but it hardly seems worth it since they get ripped straight to FLAC or Apple Lossless and are relegated to a dusty bookshelf these days anyway.

[Stunsworth]

The worst things about CD's design are the case and the material it's made from. Terrible.

[JFLL]

You can get 3-way, 4-way and 5-way CD cases (i.e. each holding 3/4/5 CDs) from these people:

http://cdsmedia.co.uk/CD/Multiple_CD_Cases.aspx

I burn quite a few downloads to CD so these have come in useful for me (though some of the second lot had broken hinges -- presumably from being chucked about in the post -- but they replaced them very quickly).

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The worst things about CD's design are the case and the material it's made from. Terrible.

It was Philips' tape cassette design (rather a good one) modified for the CD, for which it has never quite been good enough. A pity, because they seemed to get just about everything else right about the CD at its launch.

[cloughie]

The standard cases can be replaced but the most annoying are broken middle bits on the integral glued to cardboard ones.

[Don Petter]

(They end up all over the place—most bizarrely a Shostakovich CD inside the jewel case of a hip-hop album by 50 Cent that I'm sure I've never listened to).

I may have solved that mystery. I leapt on a Shostakovich item in a charity shop, only to find it contained a hip-hop CD.

[Petrushka]

I've got a good stock of the standard jewel cases courtesy of unwanted Gramophone samplers. The worst ones are the 2/3/4 way cases where the hinges just don't work and the only way to get in without snapping it is very carefully.

My own bugbear are the cardboard sleeves, fine in themselves, but sometimes very difficult to extract the disc without getting fingerprints on the rim. This is why I can find discs sticking as the very final notes sound Worst of all are the double cardboard sleeves where the opening is inwards, not outwards, thus making it impossible to remove the disc without tearing the cardboard sleeve as well as fingerprinting the disc.

[soileduk]

My own bugbear are the cardboard sleeves, fine in themselves, but sometimes very difficult to extract the disc without getting fingerprints on the rim. This is why I can find discs sticking as the very final notes sound Worst of all are the double cardboard sleeves where the opening is inwards, not outwards, thus making it impossible to remove the disc without tearing the cardboard sleeve as well as fingerprinting the disc.

I use those pure cotton white 'dust gloves' in these situations. You can extract the disc from the sleeve with a sensible grip and not dirty or damage the surfaces.

£2.59 from Boots stores or your favourite online emporium.

[LeMartinPecheur]

I've got a good stock of the standard jewel cases courtesy of unwanted Gramophone samplers.

Yes, they were so-o-o useful weren't they, pet? I still have a few stacked up with a spine-label telling me it's a Gramophone disc, but sadly there are fewer and fewer usable bits left when I ransack them

So SuperGlue will probably be increasing its dividend thanks to inexplicably increased sales in the far SW

[Beef Oven!]

I've got a good stock of the standard jewel cases courtesy of unwanted Gramophone samplers.

Same here! Bit silly of me to think that I was the only one doing that!

[Ferretfancy]

I rather like the gatefold packaging for some CDs such as a recent purchase of the Haydn Op/33 quartets by the Cuarteto Cadsals. The discs sit in two plastic trays inside a stiff card fold out with a pocket at one end for the notes. The whole thing is also slimmer than a conventional jewel case.
Great performances too!

[Tony Halstead]

I rather like the gatefold packaging for some CDs such as a recent purchase of the Haydn Op/33 quartets by the Cuarteto Cadsals. The discs sit in two plastic trays inside a stiff card fold out with a pocket at one end for the notes. The whole thing is also slimmer than a conventional jewel case.
Great performances too!

This type of packaging is used by the 'beatific' Brooklyn Rider Quartet , whose every CD utterance so far has been a Great performance IMHO.

[Don Petter]

I rather like the gatefold packaging for some CDs such as a recent purchase of the Haydn Op/33 quartets by the Cuarteto Cadsals. The discs sit in two plastic trays inside a stiff card fold out with a pocket at one end for the notes. The whole thing is also slimmer than a conventional jewel case.
Great performances too!

This sounds like the dreaded 'digipack' which is fine until one or more of the central fingers break off (not that uncommon) and the thing becomes barely useable and unrepairable.

(Or have I misunderstood your description?)

[pastoralguy]

It's very sad that most modern cd cases are so flimsy compared to discs that were produced in the early days when a cd was a real quality product. I buy blank cases from Boots that are good and are easy to take apart.