Headsets and headphones are important to gamers. They allow for immersion: the sound of footsteps behind or gunfire volleys to the left or right. They’re great, too, if you live in a noisy household as even the most basic on-ear or over-head pair will provide some level of passive noise-cancellation, and they’re a way of communicating with other players so, for many gamers, they’re an integral part of the set-up.
But if you play regularly and for extended periods, you might find that your gaming headset is causing sweaty ears.
It’s pretty common and not just with gamers. It happens to audiophiles, too, and to anyone who spends long periods wearing on-ear or over-ear headphones.
We wanted to explain why this happens, why sweaty ears can be bad for your headset and to explore if there are any headphone protection you can use to help.
Headphones stay on your head thanks to the clamping effect. This is just the pressure your earpads apply to your ears and head when you’re wearing them. Too much pressure and they’re uncomfortable and painful, and too little and they’ll just slide right off your head. For this post, we’re not concerned with the pressure itself but rather how the clamping effect seals the cushion to your ear.
With the earcup clamped to the ear, it’s going to get warm under there.
What’s important, too, is the material covering the earcups. Leather and pleather are often the worst culprits as neither is breathable making it more likely you’ll sweat into them.
And some people just sweat more. You could have more sweat glands than someone else or you could have a condition where you sweat excessively. If you’re playing in a warm room, you’ll sweat into your headphones more frequently.
Most headphones will handle some sweat without a problem. What we’re talking about is when they’re exposed to moisture regularly – for example, if you’re playing every day or for many hours each week.
Sweat is corrosive so when it’s allowed to sit on the cushion and then seep inside it, the material can start breaking down. Often this manifests as a tear or rip in the material that then gets worse or forms as small flakes that get onto your clothes and ears. This may not directly affect the sound of the headphones but wearing them may become uncomfortable and result in them starting to smell unpleasant. If sweat is allowed to get inside the internal components of the headset, then the audio could start cutting out or fail, and then you’ll be looking for another pair to buy.
Sweaty ears might not be the most glamourous topic in the world but they can be a huge frustration for gamers. As sweat can damage headphones, too, it’s important to reduce the amount of moisture seeping through into the cushions. We want to be comfortable when we’re gaming but we also want to ensure our headphones aren’t going to need replacing before their time.
If you’d like to find out more about how moisture-proof covers can protect your headphones and shop the range of designs and colours, then you can find everything on the EarHugz website.
Apart from tangly wires, one of the most common complaints about headphones is that they can make your ears uncomfortably hot and sweaty after long periods of listening.
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Indeed, the padding on most on-ear and over-ear headphones is made of materials like foam wrapped in leather, fleather (fake plastic leather), or felt, all of which don't let your skin breathe and basically act like winter earmuffs.
It's certainly not a major problem, and it bothers some more than others. Personally, it bothers the hell out of me, and it's a common-enough issue that it's often included in headphone reviews.
Yet, headphone makers don't seem to take notice, and they keep making headphones with ear cups that make your ears hot.
I'm convinced I've found the solution, and only two headphone makers are using it.
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Some models of Logitech gaming headphones, like the G933 Artemis Spectrum, as well as Turtle Beach's Stealth 450 gaming headphones, have foam cups covered in a breathable sportsy mesh fabric that keeps your ears comparatively cool.
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Logitech recognized that a common complaint among gamers who use headsets is that the ear cups can get hot and sweaty after hours of gaming, but regular non-gaming folk can also enjoy music through headphones for hours on end, too. It's a wonder how more headphone makers don't use it.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider
The fabric is similar to the kind of fabric you'd find on running shoes designed to let your feet breathe so they, too, don't get too hot and sweaty.
The Logitech G933, however, has an additional trick up its sleeve: You can easily remove the G933's cups and wash them with water and soap to clean away the head and face oils that have built up on the cups over time.
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Considering some of us use our headphones for hours on end on a daily basis, removable and washable cups would be a great feature to have.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider
The caveat? The Logitech and Turtle Beach headphones are gaming headsets, meaning they're designed to deliver immersive audio for video games rather than music, and they don't sound as good as equivalently priced headphones designed for music. I wouldn't recommend you buy these if you're looking for headphones primarily for music.
And despite the fact that they use a sportsy mesh fabric, I wouldn't go on a run with them, either, as both are chunky and unwieldy. But they're great if you're a gamer!
The best solution for those who hate that hot sweaty feeling when they wear headphones is still to use earphones that fit in your ears instead.