CD collection database software (Mac) - any recommendations?

[Guest]

My classical CD collection is still just about small enough for me to consider starting a proper catalogue.

Does anyone have experience of the commercially available packages like Collectorz? I'm on a Mac, so that limits the field a bit.

Any suggestions gratefully accepted.

[ChrisBennell]

Haven't tried any commercially available packages, but about 9 months ago faced with the knowledge that I couldn't remember everything I had in my collection, or often couldn't find what I knew I had, I spent a couple of weeks producing a catalogue. I simply used Excel. I have a single spreadsheet with 2 worksheets, the first organised by CD number as I acquire them. The second is a sorted version of the first, by Composer, then Work, and then CD number. So far this has served the purpose.

[Risorgimento]

Delicious Library is worth looking at. Yes, a horrible name.

[Don Petter]

Haven't tried any commercially available packages, but about 9 months ago faced with the knowledge that I couldn't remember everything I had in my collection, or often couldn't find what I knew I had, I spent a couple of weeks producing a catalogue. I simply used Excel. I have a single spreadsheet with 2 worksheets, the first organised by CD number as I acquire them. The second is a sorted version of the first, by Composer, then Work, and then CD number. So far this has served the purpose.

Presumably not for a Mac (?), but I think if you're reasonably comfortable with Excel, it makes a very practical solution. You don't have to set up specific fields in a database which may be subsequently difficult to alter. Sorting and printing is easy to organise.

SWMBO runs an Excel spreadsheet for her DVDs which has about eight fields and currently some 7000 entries. (Don't ask! It isn't just men who suffer from collector's disease.)

Making one field an acquisition (or entry) date and another a 'Printed' flag makes it easy to have a master printout (with all the 'P's). and a current supplement (all the non-'P's) is printed out every so often. Once in a while, the whole works is printed out again, and everything flagged with a 'P'.

The printout accompanies her round the charity shops and boot fairs, while I relax nearby with a crossword and coffee or bacon roll, as appropriate.

[Roehre]

for the 53000+ entries in my collection I use Excel with the following fields

COMPOSER
WORK
KEY
OPUS (a numeric field, otherwise opus 199 is followed by opus 2 e.g.)
# (to add an a, or another number to the opus number, e.g. the "a" from opus 31a
ALT#NR# (for alternative numbers. e.g. to divide Beetoven's opus numbers from WoO or Hess - the latter mentioned in this field)
YEAR (If you are interested in the year of composition -if known- )
REMARK (for versions e.g., handy for Bruckner, or special recordings -premieres, composer conducts, etc)
LP (this field, like MC, CD and DVD is just 1 character to tick, as "location" often can't sort out the medium)
MC
CD
DVD
LOCATION (Labels or numbers)
DATUM (handy if you know that you bought something but cannot find it but know approx when)

I don't make use of a field performers as generally it's the music which interests me.
Such a field is easily either simply added or replaces the remark-field.

[ChrisBennell]

Presumably not for a Mac (?).

You can in fact get Excel or even full Office on a Mac. Googling the question gives lots of options. Here's one:

https://support.office.com/en-sg/article/Whats-new-in-Excel-for-Mac-2011-d56f5c11-4b9b-4f04-9e24-45537dca60fc

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I used to catalogue my LPs and CDs, but I gave up long ago, preferring to listen to them instead. However, there are many works I often discover that I never knew I had, so my lazy method doesn't really work.

[Dave2002]

I used to catalogue my LPs and CDs, but I gave up long ago, preferring to listen to them instead. However, there are many works I often discover that I never knew I had, so my lazy method doesn't really work.

The effort of making a catalogue may simply not be worthwhile, and time could be better spent doing other things, such as listening, or going for walks.

Another similar activity is ripping one's CDs to hard drive. However, for anyone who persists with this, once all the CDs are ripped, many of the tools to play the tracks do in fact provide reasonable (up to a point) catalogue facilities. Certainly using iTunes it should be possible to locate any track quickly. I have not tried to produce a printed catalogue from iTunes however - though I wouldn't expect it to be impossible.

FWIW I did rip quite a number of CDs to hard drives. Do I use the ripped versions? Hardly ever!

[Risorgimento]

I used to catalogue my LPs and CDs, but I gave up long ago, preferring to listen to them instead. However, there are many works I often discover that I never knew I had, so my lazy method doesn't really work.

But on the bright side, the pleasure in (re)discovering a gem !! The only reason I use DL is that (a) it is easy to enter the data - you just hold the barcode up to the camera on the iMac and (b) it is a handy reference in case of having to make an insurance claim.

Have to say, though, that these days most of my listening is as background and so the £4.99 monthly streaming subscription at 320kbps from Qobuz is a no-brainer. Get a newsletter from Presto Classical. See anything that takes your fancy? Go Qobuz and try it out.

[MrGongGong]

I used to catalogue my LPs and CDs, but I gave up long ago, preferring to listen to them instead. However, there are many works I often discover that I never knew I had, so my lazy method doesn't really work.

I would think that the fact that you discover things you didn't know you had to be ample evidence of the success of your "lazy" method.

[Don Petter]

I would think that the fact that you discover things you didn't know you had to be ample evidence of the success of your "lazy" method.

I also subscribe to EA's method, and for the same reasons, but it is not all success. I have occasionally bought an item again because, although I knew it was somewhere in the house, I couldn't find it (or even just couldn't face the Herculean efforts required to look for it).

[MrGongGong]

I also subscribe to EA's method, and for the same reasons, but it is not all success. I have occasionally bought an item again because, although I knew it was somewhere in the house, I couldn't find it (or even just couldn't face the Herculean efforts required to look for it).

The "tottering piles of unlabelled CDRS" is a widely used strategy in my experience

Or does this explain why he has so many copies of a certain Alpine orchestral excursion?

[johnb]

I use Squeezebox and all my CDs, etc are ripped and tagged (with the actual CD details in the "Comments" tag). The Squeezbox system collates all the data into a SQLite database file so I just use that database, by linking to it or exporting the data into Access.

Sometimes I can't decided what to play (life was so much simpler when I had only 10 LPs) and do a random selection, using a macro within Excel, which very often throws up pieces/recordings that would never have crossed my mind - a bit nerdish but sometimes quite rewarding.

[Dave2002]

I also subscribe to EA's method, and for the same reasons, but it is not all success. I have occasionally bought an item again because, although I knew it was somewhere in the house, I couldn't find it (or even just couldn't face the Herculean efforts required to look for it).

Indeed, and sometimes I have even (recently) bought some BBC magazine CDs for £1.99 from Oxfam, when I know I should have them "somewhere", but console myself with the thought that (a) the money goes (should) to good causes, (b) the particular CDs can be played in the car, (c) they can be given away again as cheap presents, or for raffles etc., or (d) if all else fails, they can go back to another charity shop.

[umslopogaas]

Like others on this thread, I use Excel to make a database of all my CDs. I have five columns:

A Composer
B Name of work
C Manufacturing company
D Identifying code
E Number of CDs in the set

And of course you can sort on any of those in an instant. I normally have it set up sorted by composer, so I can check whenever Gramophone recommends a new recording whether I want it, or whether I've got enough versions already.

The only serious shortcoming is that if I have a CD with more than one composer represented, I only enter the first one. So for example a recent Heritage CD of works by Havergal Brian and John Foulds is entered as Brian etc and poor old Foulds doesnt get named. This raises two problems: one, if another recording of the Foulds work is issued I shall look on the database and not find it, so I will go and buy it, whereas in fact I already have one recording and that's enough. The problem is that if a visitor says "Have you got anything by John Foulds?" I shall look on the database and not find him, so will say no, when in fact I have. I might of course remember that I have, but the whole point of the database is that I cant remember what I've got. In practice I get around this by inviting visitors to choose something from the shelves themselves.