I changed to IEMs.
Ear conditioning.
Honestly I’d buy it
Using earphones or taking breaks
The material your pads are made out of can significantly affect this. I swapped from leather pads to suede and I find the new ones far warmer than the old but that doesn't bother me.
If you can experiment with different pads you might find something that works for you.
Though be warned that the material can also affect the house cancelling performance so you have decided on that compromise too.
Take off the headphones!
Genuinely this. Just take them off, go make a coffee or drink some water or something. Take in the horrific sounds of the outdoors or of your neighbours toilet. Do some laundry. And then pop the headphones on again
This is why "on ear" headphones exist vs "over ear".
I've not tried them but you can get replacement pads which apparently have a cooling gel in them. Eg these.
No idea if they're any good but would be interested in hearing from someone with first-hand experience.
One thing to note with big puffy replacement ear bands is they do affect the frequency response of your headphones.
I have a pair where the aftermarket pads are maybe 5mm thicker than the factory ones and they DESTROY the already bad bass response of my headphones. The different material also absorbs sound different so it changes how all frequencies sound a bit.
So if you’re already lacking in bass just know they will make it worse.
I've not tried these particular ones, but gel ear pads with noise cancelling headphones is pointless in my experience
The gel vibrates with exterior sounds and passes through to your skull, cancelling out the cancellation!
For what it’s worth, these wotsit cushions really bumped up the comfort on my Steelseries Nova 7s to the point where I find myself considerably less likely to need a break after an hour. Out of the box, they were cooking my head.
Depending on your level of comfort, over-ear headphones can be less or more hot than on-ear ones (rests around the ears vs on the ears). Openback headphones are open on the sides so they theoretically should be cooler as well.
I swap between my speakers, headphones and IEMs. Good way to keep your ears from feeling too hot (from headphones) or fatigued (from IEMs). For most listening I use speakers but if there are other people around, I'll use my headphones since they're more comfortable and sound better than my IEMs.
I've mostly transitioned to using in-ear headphones instead of over-ear, partially for this reason.
The other reason being the far less space they take up.
The con is that the battery life is not as good and the sound quality I guess is arguably a bit worse, but on balance I find the tradeoff worth it
I have a pair of Bose Bluetooth earbuds that sound pretty good imo. They're technically for working out so they stick right in your ear nice and snug.
Yeah, the drop in sound quality is not exactly large nor is it a big concern for me.
The answer is metel monitor style headphones with molded plugs. A lot of the times your ears get hot is the ear buds or cups are not shaped right for your ears and it irritated them and then they get hot.
Try on-ear headphones, like the Koss KPH40s and Koss Porta Pros. A pair of Koss KSC75s on a cheapo lightweight headband has been my professional and home setup for years now and I can wear them for hours and hours on end without fatigue.
You can also go with in-ear monitors. I personally get a mild headache from the audio seal, so I tend not to wear them for too long. Check out Crinacle and Hangout Audio for IEM recommendations.
