[Les]

I must have a smaller and more sensitive head than 'normal'. I had to put a half to one inch strip of foam on the inside of the Medusa's headband to get them to fit alright. Even then, because of their resultant angle all the ear-cups pressure was placed just below my ears and not flat around them. The velvet cushions were comfortable though.

What I like about the Audo-Technica's is that they do away with the band altogether and just have two pads to come in contact with the top of my head, and even that with not much pressure. They're so comfortable I often find myself leaving them on even when I've finished listening to stuff. If I use headphones that have a solid band across the top though, I have to slide the band towards the rear top of my head as the spot where headphones usually sit starts to hurt fairly quickly otherwise. This makes the headphones sit at a precarious and awkward angle.

The only downside I've found with the Audio-Technica's (and the AKG's, only more so) is their ear-pads are a little too shallow for the shape of my ears, which touch the thin inside padding of the ear-cups. After several hours, not just a couple, this can start to hurt enough to be noticeable. I think my ears protrude in the middle more than most peoples though, so I don't think it would be something a lot of people would experience. And looking at other brands and models including the Sennheiser HD5**'s, which do look comfortable otherwise, I can't see that they'd be any better in that regard.

These are the sort of things that make trying before you buy so important (not that I always do), as everyones head and ears are different and there's just no way of knowing otherwise.