Last Updated: on October 28, 2023 by Jack
Clamping force is an important feature of over-ear headphones as it ensures a good fit over the head and around the ears. A tighter fit will help combat the issue of headphones sliding off your head, and push the ear cups closer to your ears to prevent sound leakage.
Although the clamping force of headphones is designed to provide a better listening experience, sometimes, it can cause too much pain for some users.
A strong clamping force can lead to the band digging into your skull or the earcups, putting pressure on the ears and jaw, resulting in things such as headaches, pain in the jaw and TMJ, tinnitus, and ear soreness.
Depending on the model of headphones you buy, the clamping force and the ability to adjust them will vary. For example, studio and professional headphones are naturally designed to have extra clamping force and will apply more pressure than an ordinary pair of headphones.
Here are some ways you can reduce the clamping force of headphones outside of the generic advice of adjusting the headband length.
1. Stretch Them Out Carefully
The first step to manually stretching out a pair of headphones is to measure the size of your head roughly. Once you have the width of your head, you can then use something slightly larger in your home to hold the headphones and stretch them out.
Make sure that whatever you hang them over is wider than your head.
Books – One of the most common ways to stretch headphones is by clamping them over some books that you have put together, which should be slightly wider than your head. Leave them over the books for a few days, and it should loosen the clamping force of the headphones and ease the tension slightly.
If you don’t have any books lying around to place the headphones over, something as basic as a shoebox, a plastic container, or even a small bucket will suffice.
Another item that can be repurposed to hang your headphones and stretch them is a wire clothes hanger. Bend the wire to the right size and adjust it as needed. You just want to keep the headphones’ sides attached to the outstretched sides of the wire.
Bend the metal headband – With some of the better quality over-ear headphones, such as the Sennheiser and Sony models, you have the ability to bend the metal headband by hand. You want to stretch the headband out as far as it can go and then give it a gentle push and pull with your fingers to adjust the stretch. Check out the video below for a demonstration:
Be extremely careful with this method, as although you can usually bend the metal band back into place, the plastic part of the headband can easily be snapped or overworked. If you’ve invested in a high-quality pair of headphones, bending the metal band by hand should be considered a last resort if nothing else has worked.
2. Change The Ear Pads or Improve The Padding
Sometimes, headphones lack adequate ear padding, which can be particularly uncomfortable when combined with an excessive clamping force that causes the drivers to dig into your ears.
If possible, you can try changing the ear pads on your over-ear headphones to bigger, padded ones. Alternatively, you can add some foam or other soft material underneath the existing ear pads to increase their padding.
Adjusting the ear pads is aimed at making the headphones feel more comfortable and reducing the overall impact of clamping force on your ears. However, there is a downside to adjusting ear pads: it may alter your sound experience.
Studio and professional headphones are designed to produce a specific sound, with a tight earcup grip and a seal around the ear being critical for creating the intended sound experience.
If you’re a professional, we wouldn’t recommend adjusting the ear cups too much, as it could dramatically alter the required sound output.
3. Take Off Glasses If Possible
We know that not wearing glasses isn’t an option for everyone, but if you’re suffering from the clamping force of headphones, removing glasses can relieve a lot of the pressure on your head.
Glasses add to the clamping pressure of over-ear headphones, regardless of how well-designed or padded they are. The issue you’ll face is that the headphones will inevitably press on the frames of your glasses, causing them to dig into the side of your head and ear cartilage.
If it’s a bigger set of studio-style headphones with a strong clamp to them, the pressure you’ll feel will probably cause too much pain regardless of how much you adjust them if you’re wearing glasses.
If you’re at home and don’t need to read off a screen and have the option to listen to the headphones without wearing glasses, then definitely give it a try to see if it reduces the clamping force for you.
Being out and about as a glasses wearer while wearing headphones is a different story. You probably need the glasses; taking them off isn’t an option. If you still require headphones for listening outside the house, then contact lenses could be an alternative to reduce clamping pressure.
4. Wear A Hat
Wearing a hat can help absorb some of the pressure that headphones apply directly to your head.
First, put the hat on your head, then place the headphones over it, ensuring you still get a reasonably tight fit around your ears.
You might even find that the hat quickly reduces the overall clamping force of the headphones after a short while, similar to our first method of stretching the headphones out to a size slightly larger than your head.
If you wear a cap and feel like it’s being pushed into your head even further due to excessive clamping force, you can always try a beanie-style hat to avoid it digging in further and marking your head
5. Give It Time
A lot of the better quality headphones automatically adjust over time to the shape of your head and loosen up.
If you’ve purchased a decent branded pair, give them some time and wear them in if possible before considering returning them due to excessive clamping.
If the clamping force is so excessive that it’s causing pain around your head or ears, then obviously don’t proceed with wearing them until they are comfortable. Instead, manually adjust the clamping force of the headphones by using our number one recommendation of placing them over some books to stretch them out a bit first.
Depending on the make and model you’ve bought, try giving the headphones at least a month of moderate use to see how you feel about the overall clamping pressure.
Remember that clamping pressure is there for a reason, and you want to have some degree of a tight fit.
Conclusion
Many factors affect the clamping pressure of over-ear headphones on the wearer.
Someone with TMJ or TMD, for example, is going to feel the effects of tighter headphones on their jaw more than someone without jaw joint problems. Head and ear sizes will also play a part in how well the headphones sit around your head.
Also, If your ears stick out, the clamping force might feel overly excessive around your ears and cause even more pain.
Sometimes, wearing headphones for too long can contribute to pain felt from them, especially for gamers who sit for prolonged periods with headsets on.
Clamping pressure is still important in headphone design, especially in professional models. You don’t want to reduce clamping to the point that the headphones sit loosely on your head; you still want a tight seal around the ear as much as possible for noise cancellation and to prevent sound leakage.
It is the case that over-ear headphones are just not designed for some people’s heads, regardless of what changes you make to them. In these cases, you should consider using in-ear headphones instead.