Introduction

Cresyn's latest addition to their portable headphone lineup is the CS-HP500 headphones. Featuring a collapsible headband and supra-aural ear cup design these headphones are definitely intended for users on the move. The headphones sell at a very reasonable $39.99. For that price you get premium portability, but the downsides are many. The supra-aural design means that the cups exert pressure on your ears rather than on your skull.

The Package

Despite their relatively small size the CS-HP500 headphones come in a huge box. The folding nature of the design means that they can be twisted and folded into a more compact form which is great if you need to fit them in your already crowded backpack. Besides the headphones you get a fake leather bag to store them in.


The cable is not that well made, and even for a set of headphones worth around $40 it is cheapish made. Normally the cable does not matter that much on a set of $40 headphones, but for a set of headphones intended for use on the move the cable needs to withstand quite a bit of abuse, and the cable on the CS-HP500s looks a bit on the fragile side to me (hard cable jacket, not that flexible conductor ie. prone to conductors breaking inside the jacket).


The jack is likewise pretty cheaply made, but you get a 1/8" to 1/4" adapter.

Closer Examination

The CS-HP500s are available in both a black and white livery. The headphones have a logo mounted in a sort of a trick mirror on each side of the cups, giving them a very "bling" appearance, unfortunately in the 12 year old boy with diamond earrings kind of way.


The CS-HP500s can accommodate most head sizes, but if you have a wide skull the pressure on your ears will most likely become intolerable. The clamping force is quite high and with my pretty normal sized head the pressure becomes annoying after approximately 20 minutes of listening. Couple that with the fake leather pads and they are hell to listen to for an extended period of time, both because of the pressure and the heat buildup.


Folded up the Cresyn CS-HP500s is really compact, not much space wasted. The CS-HP500s are very good if your only concern is portability.


Unfortunately the pads are covered with the tackiest kind of fake leather which means that your ears become excruciatingly hot after a relatively short period of time. They should have spent more money and effort on the pads rather than the aesthetics in my opinion, since they do not avoid any of the comfort related pitfalls.


Both the cup pads and the headband pads are covered with the fake leather. The pads on the cups do not nearly make up for the higher than average clamping force. The headband pads are adequate.