On a sidenote, I always ruin my hearing using headphones. So after using it some hours, I set it always way too loud without realizing. Then I hear bells and constant tones in my ears for some days usually. It reverts back to normal, but surely is very unhealthy. So how do you prevent that effect? Is your headphones amp physically limited, so it can’t made louder? Just discipline I guess…
set your audio interface at your max comfortable level and put it out of reach, I literally never change my max volume level which is not loud at all so I have no trouble using open back headphones for a whole day, but it’s easy for me as I find loud music rather uncomfortable
Just like I wrote here, just talk out loud while using your headphones and if you can hear yourself the volume is quite ok. I only turn the volume up while mastering (up and down, every volume is required) and of course if I just want to listen to the music without any production actions.
Just thinking: If everybody uses references, one day everything will sound the same.
I have to admit that I never ever have used a reference track.
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My final word for this post is…
Listen repeatly only to ULTIMATE mixed-masterised musics
I’m 25 and agree 100%, even after switching my headphones sides, i never listened to loud music or was in loud environments to a point of damaging my hearing (just did a online hearing test and it said my hearing age is 18, obviously it’s just a online test, but i’m mentioning so people dont think i’m half deaf), but it feels like the left sound is different (specially the hi-hats). Really interesting “audio illusion”!
FWIW I discovered bone conduction headphones a few years ago, and one of the benefits is that they don’t blast your eardrums the way conventional headphones and earbuds do, but rather vibrate your cheekbone so you basically hear “through your skull”. The sound reproduction is not the same as high-end monitors, but I actually like the sound of them, – warm and crackly and full like vinyl records, without the painful highs and lows that hurt your ears and damage your hearing.
Every little bit of our hearing we can save is valuable, so even if you just replace your day-to-day headphones with these, it’s that much more hearing you’ll preserve.
I got the Titaniums for $99 about 3 years ago and recently upgraded to the Aeropex for $150
Nice, but I can’t imagine using this kind of headphones for music production.
Indeed, that’s why stereo is what it is and playing with stereo effects in music production isn’t the worst idea. 
Listen through a long analog path…multiple preamps on this path
liquefy the hurting frequencies,peaks,transients…
Of all the time you spend making music, some percentage of that is time you have to hear without having to really listen. When you’re roughing in notes, building a song, you can be saving your hearing for the times when you need to use real studio monitors to perfect the sounds.
I had the same problem but I had just a lot of fluid in the eustachian pipe. I do the valsalva-maneuver now and then and it works. Eustachian Tube Dysfunction ETD Exercises and Massage Techniques for Ear Fullness - YouTube