Anyone Find Headphones To Be Uncomfortable


I just recently bought a pair of headphones to see what the fuss was all about. Unfortunately I find the listening experience to be uncomfortable with high levels of listening fatigue. Maybe it's the clamping force, the whole thing sticking to the head like a parasite. Perhaps it's the pressure that the cups impose upon the jawline, or the ears needing a breath of fresh air after being enclosed in a semi-tight chamber of some sort for long periods. Perhaps it's the sound pressure build-up within the open/semi-open/closed chamber. Or a combination of any of the above.

Initially I can't listen for more than 5 minutes but that improved to about an hour after some training. Nevertheless I still find the headphone listening experience to be uncomfortable(and unnatural) in comparison to loudspeaker-based systems.

Maybe I need more time to adapt to the headphone listening experience, or perhaps headphones just do not do it for me. I know this may sound ironic but sometimes music from the Edifier computer speakers (~$75) is more enjoyable than headphones (~$1000) despite people suggesting the other way round($1000 headphones offering more than speakers costing up to $2000). The discomfort and listening fatigue with headphones marred the listening experience for me. Does anyone feel the same with headphones?

For what it's worth, the headphone that I have right now is a Beyerdynamic T1. Are there any headphones that are substantially more comfortable than this with significantly lower levels of listening fatigue? Stax?

As a side note, I would like to clarify that my impressions above are not exactly a criticism toward high-quality headphones but more to my difficulty in adapting to them. There isn't any doubt that the Beyerdynamic T1 or any other good headphone designs are capable of a high quality playback and performance.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.
ryder
,,,by the way....to get the most from earphones, you need a special earphone amp.
I have Sennheiser 650's which I find comfortable, but hot on warm days/nights. The sound is fabulous though and I am really quite used to them. There are excellent earbuds...Shure, Ultimate Ears, etc. that go into the ear cannal rather than sitting on your head.
Maybe I should just stick with loudspeakers. I wasn't listening to the headphones much although I just bought them 2 weeks ago. I can listen to the speakers for 8 hours straight(low listening fatigue and great tunes too) but can only listen to headphones for about 30 minutes to an hour before it gets uncomfortable(+ not so great tunes).

Anyway the T1 will probably be my last pair of headphones(happens to my first one as well). Judging from the way they sound right now, it is unlikely that they can match the visceral feel of loudspeakers although I might be able to get used to the headphone listening experience. Quite underwhelmed with the performance of this reference headphone model actually. At any rate, I find my speakers to sound much better and enjoyable than the headphones.
I find all headphones and earphones uncomfortable. Fortunately, I also find that the sound presentation they offer unsatisfying and I have no need for them. I wish you luck.

Kal
Thanks for the words of encouragement. Much appreciated. I surely hope I can get used to the headphones soon and yes, it appears that both my head and ears need some time to break-in to these.

Cheers.
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