I recently went to an Annual Autumn sale hosted by the local library, and my focus was on a particular format. The first time I went to one, I went absolutely book-crazy! As libraries go, they had all kinds and were practically giving it away. They even had a fill-a-bag promo for five bucks. I had two bags filled, and it felt good taking them all home. It was going to be a smorgasbord of stories. Except that a year later, I had only read two books in total, and one of them was actually a new one that I bought at a Barnes & Noble. To this day, I’m still totally booked, so to speak.

Anyway, the same library sale offers a variety of video and audio materials, primarily DVDs, vinyl records, and compact discs. All these formats have their own special pull on me. But I’m focusing on the latter. I remember when I could only salivate at the thought of buying a CD, much less owning a player, because it was just beyond my beginner's salary. I remember the Tower Records and Music One stores stocked with all kinds of music, each CD priced at Php 375 to upwards of Php 500 for the fancy records. You can only hang out so long at these stores without feeling a bit sorry for yourself because you can’t afford much of what’s in them.

But times change. At said Autumn sale, the same CDs are now within my reach for a buck each. And if you feel like splurging, you can go $5 for a fill-a-bag. That’s P57 per album or less than P300 for a paper bag stuffed with roughly a dozen CDs. Suffice to say that I went to town on those. With albums by 80s pop luminaries such R.E.M., The Alarm, Springsteen, Cindy Lauper, Duran Duran, INXS, 10,000 Maniacs, Suzanne Vega, Peter Gabriel, STING, The Waterboys (“Whole of the Moon”) to 90’s modern rock titles like the Gin Blossoms, Third Eye Blind, Hootie & The Blowfish, Collective Soul, Lenny Kravitz, Dave Matthews Band, Live to movie soundtracks of “Reality Bites,” John Cusack’s “Grosse Pointe Blank,” “Philadelphia,” “Romeo and Juliet” (the one with DiCaprio and Claire Danes), “RENT” and a whole lot more.

So why CDs? Well, the whole discussion between vinyl versus CDs notwithstanding, CDs are very portable, and this is my best reason for choosing this format over vinyl. I freakin’ adore vinyl, but you can’t enjoy those 12-inch plastics outside the confines of your home stereo setup, no matter how special you think it is. CDs are pervasive and mobile. I can listen to two albums during a car drive. One is going to work, and one is on the way home, which is how I listen to them now. And the sound? While the words rich, warm, organic, and analog can’t be used, it still delivers a crisp, dynamic, and superior listening experience. My setup is nothing to brag about, but the CD player in the 2012 Honda Civic I’m currently using delivers the goods every time.

It’s so easy to build a CD record collection, especially if you know where to look for those bargains. And while a true sustained revival of the compact disc is uncertain compared to vinyl, its affordability and high audio quality still make it superior to what streaming services provide.

Besides, for the music superfan, a tactile record is still the best.

Also, I'm a hoarder.