Slappa's Flagship CD case for DJs on the run, the 600 Pro

After evaluating dozens of CD cases, we discovered a small company from North Carolina, USA called Slappa via an online discount store. Slappa?? None of us had heard about them, so we dug a little deeper. What we discovered was a company that was manufacturing DJ-oriented CD cases that not only met our criteria of quality and value, but exceeded it.

Slappa shipped us their flagship 600 Hardbody Pro CD case and their 240 disc capacity Limited Edition, Platinum holder. We had already picked up a Black Wave 160 during our evaluations, so now we had three products to put through the gauntlet.

All the components Slappa chooses in their manufacturing process are first rate. From our scrutiny, we could not find one corner that Slappa cut to bring their cases to market at their low retail price points. CD holders costing two or three times as much were so much more inferior, we wondered aloud how Slappa managed to produce such a well-thought out and put together product. Then we looked at the tag: Made In China. When they're good, they're very, very good.

The quality starts in what Slappa calls its "Hardbody" cases, which are made from "xEVA Duro-Shock" materials - we don't know exactly what xEVA is, but we can tell you that these CD caddies provide excellent protection to your CDs at about the same weight as comparably-sized, cloth-covered cardboard cases.

The Black Wave 160 case before "the gauntlet" & a close-up of their stitched CD sleeves.

So how do you test the durability of a CD case? We're glad you asked. First, we filled up our Black Wave 160 case with CDs and gave it a One-Way Express ticket down two flights of concrete steps. The result: no broken CDs. Next, we dropped it from an average height of 5 feet a dozen times trying as many impact points as we could muster. The result: no breakage. Finally, we tried to reasonably puncture the exterior with several types of "pointy" objects. The result? While the exterior took a visual beating, and the handle eventually cracked from the abuse, the CDs inside remained undamaged. Impressive.

Zipper quality is a pet peeve of many DJs who are easily frustrated by sticking, hard-to-operate zippers with small handles. You won't find those budget zippers on the Slappa products. Slappa's industrial grade zippers are designed for long life and the pullers are made from molded rubber to ensure a good grip.

The CD pockets on the Black Wave are also worth mentioning. Many of us have grown accustomed to torn sleeves from too much of the ol' in-and-out, but the Slappa's never seemed to blowout. Give credit to Slappa's manufacturing process which stitches the clear plastic pockets in place instead of heat-sealing. Their non-scratch pockets can hold two CDs or a CD in the back and the artwork in the front. Most DJ will never use the front pouch for artwork, so each pocket will essentially perform double duty.

Other nice touches include a velvet lined interior, a cargo pouch on the inside front cover for business cards, or other instantly accessible items, and an embedded CD cleaning cloth. The aforementioned handle is also well made and Slappa claims it can withstand a load of 70 lbs. Ours took a powder during the sudden fire drill down the concrete steps, but that's certainly not normal wear-and-tear.

The Hardbody Pro cases do have a couple of negatives. The Limited Edition Platinum model we received, while gorgeous to look at in its pristine white state, easily picked up dirt, scratches and unexplained stains during testing. So we can't recommend that model, and you may want to consider that experience when choosing the camel color as well. In addition, each Hardbody case comes with a spine window on its handle that's very difficult to insert the cardboard strip for cataloging. This needs to be address in the next generation models. In fact, we'd like to see tabs incorporated on the inside sleeves (like on hanging file folders) that can be used for further categorization of your music. For instance, it would be great to have a "House" case that had sub-genre or BPM tabs on the interior sleeves so that you don't have to flip through several pages to find what you're looking for.

The 600 Hardbody Pro CD case has the same attributes of the 160 Black Wave and 240 Platinum cases with the addition of a retractable carry handle and built-in inline skate wheels for portability. In our tests, the wheels were first-rate and had no problems transporting the case off of curbs, onto subway cars, over sticky dance floors, or any other terrain that they encountered. The rigid frame has enough tensile strength to support a case full of 600 CDs without adding significant heft with the entire case weighing in at just under 12 lbs.

For the money, the Slappa arsenal of CD cases are the best value on the market today. Their versatile, useful design, robust construction and overall quality make them a standout in a sea of mediocrity.

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