[Zankes]

My left ear itches when I listen trance with the Audio Technica M50. My ear itches from the inside, is this supposed to be normal...?

 

[sebbyr]

Bass vibrating fine hairs in your ear.?

 

[Zankes]

Could be... Feels annoying, oh well... 

 

[cycler2]

Try turning down the volume and see if that helps!  Or see a good ear, nose, and throat doctor.

 

[Sarah]

Happens to me with my AKG K271s. I've never been able to figure out what's causing it.

 

[Lurkumaural]

Let me know, I've been getting this more and more lately.  Until I get data suggesting otherwise, I think it's independent of genre.  And I think my ears are cleaner than they've ever been.
 
Hmmmm....

 

[Sarah]

I wouldn't be surprised if cleaning them too much would cause a problem, since you're removing the ear wax that protects your ear canals... they will be more sensitive to irritation.

 

[Lurkumaural]

I had considered that.  It's my bad for not wanting ear wax on my IEMs.  Maybe I'll dial it back a bit.

 

[sonci]

first, dont go to the Ent doctor, he will tell you dont use headphones at all (hearing loss..)

its normal that headphones can cause discomfort, they can make difficult the equalization of air pressure between inner and outer side of ear drum.
as for the itching I suspect a bit of sweat inside the ear canal, particulary with narrow canals and maybe hot climates
maybe ear cups phones could be a solution.

 

[Sarah]

... ear cups phones?
 
It's definitely not sweat in my case, I had some ear-sweat-inducing headphones for a while that never made my ears itch, while my no-sweat velour-pad AKGs make them itch regularly (and usually within 30 seconds of putting them on). I almost never get it with IEMs, or my Grados, it's just those AKGs...

 

[timbo4321]

Yes I started getting this with my Denon D7000 some time back. I've only had open back headphones before and never experienced this until now. I also have Fostex T50RP that do the same thing albeit much less. With me its a problem with closed earphones. 
 
I think part of my ear is vibrating to a certain range of frequencies - thats why it feels to you like it is itching, mine feels like part of the ear canal is fluttering, like there is a fly in my ear. Does part of the ear feel numb afterwards? Certainly you may need to dial the volume back - I guess no harm in that anyway. I also dialed back to treble on the left side with a little poly fibre (from an old duvet) in the cups, just enough to ease the resonance in the ear but not damp the treble too much. Maybe a little felt in front the driver may help as well - again just to take the sting out of the sound.
 
Personally, I don't think the discomfort is right or good for your ears (or mine), though its a good thing if your ears are telling you to turn the volume down. I think that there is a lot of sound energy in some headphones and apart from the bits that you hear I think there is energy that needs to dissipate somewhere else in your ear - thats why damping seems to help. Its just a guess - maybe the science geeks could shed some light on this.