[Huhoto]

I have tried a few pairs of headphones around the $100- $200 range(ath-m50, Creative live, MDR XB-500, v-modas, beats， boses), but ended up returning all of them due to the fact that they are uncomfortable to my ears.
Although I can wear the Koss portapros for longer than a hour, they still hurt my ears nonetheless.
I have a somewhat large head, I wear 7 5/8 sized hats. Sometimes even extra-large hats don't fit me. My ears stick out a lot and they are quite long. In most cases with headphones, irritation of the ears is the main culprit, not the size.

After reading many reviews here , I decided to try the HD 598. My head size is not an issue here. Unfortunately, my ears feel cramped and get hot & irritated very quickly. I'm trying to get past the discomfort as of right now. Probably will end up returning them because I hate to settle. They do sound amazing while playing witcher 2 though.

I intend to use the headphones mainly for gaming(non-competitive). I also listen to all music genres, powerful bass is not necessary for me. Most importantly, it's gotta be comfy.
Since my paid internship is starting soon, I am willing to try more expensive options and would love to hear what you guys think.

Thank you!

~Head-fi newbie

 

[viralcow]

If the 598's weren't large enough you must have some big ears.
 
The go-to comfortable headphone here is the DT880/MA900 but when it comes to space around the ears I think the K702/Q701 trumps them. There's enough room inside the pads that there's nothing pressing or rubbing against the ears.
 
If not, go with in-ears.

 

[mingde10467]

I have a similar problem. The AKG 701s aren't that uncomfortable but my ears still touch the inside edges of the pads.
 
I found the Sennheiser HD 800s extremely comfortable - - the space enclosed by the ear pads is very large and my ears didn't touch the pads themselves; this is almost equally true of the Grado GS 1000s. Unfortunately, these cans are very expensive.
 
I found the Grado RS 1i very comfortable. The pads on this Grado rest on top of the ear so the size of your ears is irrelevant. This is also an expensive can but perhaps some of the other, less expensive, Grados have the same type of pad arrangement.   

 

[dalb]

How much money are you willing to spend? Just to get a gauge of what headphones are in and out. If you don't like the HD598 I guess I can't recommend the HD600/650 as they are quite similar. Other really comfortable headphones I've owned are Dt770s and Sony MDR1r. The Audeze I owned had heaps of space around the ear, but the headband was uncomfortable

 

[whirlwind]

RS1i is very comfortable, only like 9 oz.....light as a feather....but I would think overkill for a gaming headphone.
 
AKG Q701 is nice, but it is suppose to go over ear and I am not sure if it would work for you....I am thinking there should be as much room as the Senn HD 598.....pads are comfy also.

 

[georgelai57]

I have always had problems with ear pads and even given away headphones because the ear pads were too small for my admittedly large ears. I have only one LCD2 and a few LCD ear pads which I have transplanted to my AKG K550, hifiman HE-400, Denon D2000, Beyer DT770/880, and so on. So maybe your solution is to find the earpad first (another possibility are the Mad Dogs angled pads) and then go find the headphone that suits you. There may be some sound differences so you'll have to experiment but I've always ranked comfort equal to if not higher than sound quality. After all how can you enjoy the sound if you can't stand the discomfort. At least starting with the ear pads first you have solved half the equation in a manner of speaking. Oh and if you want a cheap earpad that's huge in terms of vertical height and quite deep (which you can increase even further by inserting a filler) go for the ridiculously cheap $17 Brainwavz HM5 pads from mp4nation.net and they fit all sorts of headphones - Mad Dogs, my Sony ZX700 and even though they're oval they stretch to fit Beyerdynamics too. Happy experimenting!

 

[Primetime86]

MA900 hands nothing comes close to comfort. They also are amazing sounding.

 

[bogdanb]

little more expensive but you might want (299), still give it a try to the NAD Viso HP 50. in my eyes they actually fit better larger heads... I own them, I love them, sound wise and also comfort wise!

 

[dc-k]

Have you considered in ear monitors?

 

[money4me247]

hands-down the most comfortable pair of closed portable headphones I've tried is the Sony MDR-1R (can be found sub-$200).
 
with your ears, you probably just need to do some research of earcup dimensions before making a purchase:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/653032/size-matters-earpad-hole-measurements-for-over-ear-headphones#post_9208205
 
A great more expensive option would be the highly-reviewed Mad Dogs w/ Alpha Pads. Seems most people love their comfort with those nice big cushy earpads. AKG's Q/K-701 have pretty large earcups from what I remember, so they should work as well. The AKG K550 has giant princess leia earcups & if you have a larger head, you shouldn't have any issues with the fit.
 
good luck & hope you find something nice.

 

[chintimin]

Ahd2000, dt770, mad dog alpha pads, xb500, xb700, vmoda m80

 

[chintimin]

Ahd600

 

[chintimin]

Akg k550