Slappa d2i CD Case Review

So I pulled the trigger on a Slappa d2i 80-160 CD Case Wallet. Being a Serato and Vinyl DJ, and fed up of connecting SSL up and having to take my laptop everywhere, I decided to put my music into the form of CDs to use when I gig. The case cost around £50 direct from their site, and I paid additional fees to make the CD wallets 'd2i' (shall explain later on).

Here is the case;

It looks rather conservative, in the sense that it doesn't have any bright colours or a style that would attract a lot of attention. Depending on what you want, this could be bad or good. For some DJs, they may want it to look cool and for it to grab attention (after all, plenty of 'DJs' 'deejay' for the status). Personally, I like the fact it is black and doesn't draw attention. If I'm carrying my music collection around, being a Londoner, I do not want to attract unnecessary attention to it. Moreover, it attracts less attention when it's sitting on the booth at a house party or so on.. We all know drunk girls are drawn to colour like a magpie to shiny stuff.

The exterior is solid, and if anyone accidentally sat on it, I am relatively sure nothing inside would be damaged. Funnily enough, I can say with certainty it holds up well against liquids. Having a bathroom above me, the unfortunate incident of someone leaving the tap on and 'falling asleep' resulted in a waterfall of liquid onto my equipment (Thankfully technics are built like tanks and I was in the room at the time). A decent amount fell onto the CD Case and nothing inside got wet, nor were there any marks. This was however just water, and I don't know nor do I want to find out how it would hold up against sticky substances (See WKD + Drunk girl = bad).

The build quality in the stitching can be seen here. I must admit I am very impressed by the quality of the handle and zip. The handle is leather based if I am not mistaken, with the hinges being solid metal. That shiny plastic surface allows you to place a label into the handle so you can keep everything organised.

Here is in the inside. The left is in the inside of the front cover. The mesh is good quality, strong, and brilliant for storing a small torch/business cards/pen or any other utensils we always end up needing (bottle opener?). The right is where the business starts. You have four pouches, each being able to hold up to 2 CDs each.

The pouches are however not all joined together, unlike most CD wallet cases. You can flip the bottom or top whilst leaving the other in it's place. Pretty good if you're looking for your next few tracks to que up.. On the left, you can see how I am using one pouch for two CDs, whereas on the right you can see how it may be done with artwork in the front pouch (usually tracklist) and CD in the back. When I start moving all my music over properly, I shall probably burn two of the same discs and print out the tracklist onto them (I am using memorex printable CDs). That way I have a backup and a list on each CD.

The close up shows how it works. The actual plastic sleeve is good, instead of usually being sealed with adhesive, it is actually stitched to the cotton beneath it, giving it a much better shelf life. 

The part which makes Slappa unique, and the reason why I chose this case, was it's 'd2i' technology. Essentially, with this case you can remove every single CD pouch from the case, change them around and so forth. This is brilliant for people with large music genres or who mix several different genres. For example, I mix both Drum & Bass and Dubstep. Instead of having to buy two cases, I can just buy additional CD pouches, fit them with my Dubstep and then when I want to spin Dubstep I put all those pouches into the case, vice versa for Drum & Bass. I also do this with my normal music now, you know, being a DJ gets you roped into 'providing the music for my little get together'... So I can just keep a few CDs in a pouch with a party play list, and bang it into my case if needs be.

You can buy boxes which basically act like vinyl crates. All the d2i pouches slide into the crate and this the easiest way to organise your music collection.

Here you can see the two pouches sliding together, and the stitched pouches. The system is noob proof, and easy to do in dark environments. However occasionally a pouch may slide off whilst being carried around within the case.

So far so good, however.. I purchased direct from Slappa (instead of cheaper retailers) as they had done a prize giveaway for a forum I frequent (djforums.com). I thought because of that, they deserved my custom. However when I received the case, I found this nice scratch..

I was pretty disappointed with this, Slappa cases are not cheap and I expected better from them. Sending out a case which is clearly marked is just lazy. It gave me the impression that the case was just thrown across the warehouse floor....

Going on holiday a few days later (and needing the case) I opted not to send it back straight (probably more so due to my apathetic nature lol). 

This is something which also bugged me. The corners of the cotton pouches were very 'dog eared'. Perhaps I am fussing, but I like my stuff crisp and clean. The only choice was to get out an iron and sort out the corners (whereby you have to be careful else you may damage the plastic or the d2i stick). Hence why I got the missus to do it.

Over all, this case is brilliant for what I needed it to do, and for what most DJs could ever need it to do. It is expensive, but when the music collection you're carrying around exceeds a grand, you do not want to skimp out on the protection. Despite the scratch and some muffled bits, I would still buy again, and still buy the case with these defects. 

Slappa get a massive thumbs up from me. 9/10. Had there of been no scratch and the case felt more 'pristine' it would be a solid 10/10.