Lately my ears have been getting hot from gaming. It takes around 30 to 40 mins before i need to take them off. Can anyone suggest a headset/ or ear buds that keep ears cool? Also are in ear headphones less likely to warm ears than headphone cups? 

I have no issue with the 3D Pulse headset although, in ear buds are always more convenient but at a loss of audio quality.

It's best to not use headphones more than an hour or ear buds. Use them for shorter durations with more breaks. Ear fatigue starts occurring at around the 15 minute mark, just take them off or out, stretch a bit, 5 minute breaks will help a lot.

I love the ear speakers of the Valve Index and HP Reverb G2 VR-headsets... they have no contact wih the ears; so no pressure, no heat, no objects stuck into the ears or enclosing the ears: https://www.valvesoftware.com/en/index/deep-dive/ear-speakers

Are there similar solutions for Non-VR?

I've tried and returned a bunch of headphones this year for various reasons. I ended up sticking with the Logitech G Pro X2 and it's serving me well. Comfortable, secure, good sound and battery, well designed. No trouble with hot ears or anything like that, either.

Yes. obviously something small that goes in the ear vs something large and made of foam that goes over and covers ears.... is going to make a differnce.
However not everyone enjoys the in-ear ones, the comfort might be offputting there instead.

Do people actually do that?
I spend hours and hours with them in, at a time.

For travelling / mobile devices I still use my good old KOSS Porta Pro headphones (since the late '80s from my walkman days) with headphone jack.

They are super comfortable due to minimal pressure on the ears. Most of the pressure is redirected to the foam buffers above the speakers (touching the less sensitive skull):



Maybe I'll upgrade to the wireless version for the next 35 years, since that timeless design is the most comfortable I ever had:
https://in-akustik.de/porta-pro-wireless-20-145197675

I support this.
These are great value for the sound quality they provide too.
They arn't pretty but they work well.

Okay, I got off a four hour session yesterday with the 3D Pulse headset anf made sure not to take it off when I was AFK for this thread and after a bit more than four hours all there was that was uncomfortable was a slight bit of sweat in my hair where the cups were making contact. It never once touched either of my ears nor gave them any discomfort or moisture or itch and elastic the strap on top that helps that from happening didn't even leave a flat mark on my hair or any sweat.

Years ago I used to use fairly high end headphones for PC and PS4 and this thing while it's range and bass is not as good is pretty much better in every other way for about one third the price and by far the most comfortable headset I've ever used. You can't use it for anything else than the PS5 and the mic gives feedback (if you'll be using it for that, I turn it off) but as a dedicated PS5 headset, it's amazing and it allows for better 3d audio and Dolby atmos than stereo buds. Only a 100 euro. So all on all, unless you have particularly large ears this is top notch and perfect for the comfort issue you made this thread for, I would ask in store for a try on and if the cups don't touch your ears buy it. You won't regret it.

They look very itchy. Do you not find yourself scratching if you move your head?