Long time lurker, first time poster:
So after having used IEM's for a long time (mostly low end Shure), I decided to move up to a full set of cans when I got my first big boy job.
I ended up with a set of SRH840's. I knew they were closed back, but I thought they sounded great for the price and went off and bought a Fiio E9i and an E7 because the built in line out from my desktop suffered from pretty intense interference and it was now noticeable.
After a while I noticed that the E7 actually sounded worse in every scenario than the line out from my Macbook Pro. So when I got my iMac I stopped using it.
So it was iMac->E9i->SRH840's
After a while though, my ears began to hurt. Unfortunately it was more than standard ear fatigue, my whole head seriously hurt after about an hour of listening.
Since I have a massive head I decided to try a different set of cans and see how those did. I went open backed this time and got a set of Audio Technica ATH-AD900's. These were super light and the sound was much much better. The Shure's by comparison sounded like they were huge speakers on the end of a pole that was jammed in my ear canal. Like a laser beam of sound.
Once again however the AD900's are causing me pain. The ear fatigue is something I'm not understanding. Even if I listen at a low volume level, and to things that are not inherently harsh sounding (Piano based tracks), within an hour not only do I have some fatigue, but the whole area around my ears just plain HURTS. The AD900's don't clamp hard at all and are light as a feather.
With that said, my current walk around IEM's are Westone 1's, and (Cost the same as Shure SE215's, my last pair, but they sound worse than the SE115's; no detail, cold and distant sounding) they are supremely comfortable. I've fallen asleep wearing them and can listen to them to hours with no fatigue.
Should I give up on full can's? Any advice on how to deal with the pain? Any other open can's out there around the AD900's price range that might suit me better?I love the soundstage of the AD900's and IEM's can't reproduce that. Perhaps a change in amp or DAC would reduce the harshness?
P.S: To give you an idea of what the pain feels like, push hard on the area right below your earlobe and hold it there for a while. Take it off. That's what it feels like after an hour.