How to use headphones with separates

Headphone systems are a different breed from main speaker systems. It is probably better not having a preamp with a headphone jack. They tend not to sound good, even on high end components.

I spent fifteen years developing my headphone system from meager beginnings. You can see where I landed in my virtual systems.

The best way to get started is to get a headphone amp and connect your preamp output to it. I highly recommend Woo headphone amps if you like highly musical and detailed music. Searching for the right headphone amp is every bit as hard as finding an amp for your main system. If you get serious about it is likely you may choose implementing a separate system. But the key is a headphone amp… and compatible headphones. Great headphones like Sennheiser 800’s require tremendous power and natural balanced sound. Others like Focal and UltraSonde require far less power, but still really natural sound, unless you like “details are all” kind of systems.

Yeah, as @ghdprentice mentioned you need a dedicated headphone amp you can feed from your preamp.  If you share your budget, what sound characteristics you’re looking for, and what headphones you’ll be using you’ll get some very helpful recommendations here. 

What I am having trouble understanding is that if I had “saved money” by buying an integrated amp, this would not be an issue.  Why?

Some stereo preamps and integrated amps have headphone amps built in and some don’t (separate amps don’t have headphone jacks), so you could’ve bought an integrated amp without a built-in headphone amp and still been in the same position you’re in now. Generally speaking, headphone amps built into preamps and integrated amps are not very high quality, underpowered, and often just an afterthought, so if you’re at all concerned with performance and/or have good headphones you’ll likely want a separate headphone amp. Hope this helps.

Buy a Headphone Amplifier, Schiit has some very nice and inexpensive HP Amps. 

  https://www.schiit.com/products/midgard

yes, long ago it seems all Preamps and Integrateds had headphone amps built in...for the most part, most built-in ones now are really just for the casual headphone user...the Belles Aria Preamps and Integrated Amps have high quality ones, really depends on your headphone needs...

As usual in audio rules had many exceptions...

I tried to upgrade for my K340 from my integrated 100 watts Sansui alpha... I buy one of the best tubes amplifier dedicated for headphone there is...

There was more apparently at first 15 minutes with this tube headphone amp. more details and there was certainly more silent background noise for sure even if the Sansui was very low noise already ...

But there is many acoustic factors in sound... Almost none were better on the upgraded celebrated headphone amplifier ... SYNERGY matter more than any rule...With the Sansui the K340 are stellar top heaphone ... With the upgraded headphone tube amp : artificial headphone timbre sound , no more out of the head impression and no 3-D holography with a natural realistic speaker like sound ...

I returned for a refund where i lost much money ( post fees customs insurance for import and export shipment ) ....😊

My K340 is so picky almost no headphone amp will serve them better that the Sansui alpha paid 300 bucks 8 years ago ...

Then if you had "an headphone out" from a vintage top flagship amp. of many decade ago and if you are stunned by the sound dont "upgrade" ...😁

My actual modified active  speakers alimented by the right dac in their acoustic corner are low cost and beat most headphones easily in nearfield listening ... My k340 beat them in all aspects and are my dedicated system for dedicated listening... My astonishing small speakers are for casual listenings many hours each day...

my system value is 700 bucks... I am proud of it as many others are proud of their costlier system... In a race for quality i am no so much far behind that what most people think ...

my headphone and their amp is vintage flagship of yesterday but yet always top product among today offerings ... Not the best there is... The best in the ratio price /S.Q. scale ...

Then some headphone out can beat dedicated amplification ...

A killer rig driven by your preamp (what I use anyway) is the Schiit Magni 3 (Now the "+") for $109 combined (or not) with their Loki Mini +...get the nice small "Pyst" cables (made by Straight Wire) from Schiit to hook 'em up and that should blow away nearly anything else for small bucks. A great sounding rig with EQ.

Good to know, thanks!

if you wanna use your existing gear with headphones, get a Zynsonix speaker tap adaptor box. depending on your headphones, you can configure the box with a bypass switch i.e. having 0dB (bypass) or whatever level of attenuation you need (if using with sensitive headphones); i have mine with 0dB and -17dB.

a lot of it depends on your gear and how much factory gain they have, as it makes background noise/hum more apparent with sensitive headphones like the Utopia or Grados. the harder to drive headphones eg Susvara, Abyss, will be fine at 0dB through the box.

This is how I listen to my RAAL SR1a and CA-1a. I used to use a RAAL VM-1a dedicated RAAL tube amp for this and it is the best for these phones. However, I needed the cash so I sold that amp and got the following cheaper gear,

Schitt Aegir amp | Schitt Mjolnir preamp | DAC | RAAL TI-1b 2-channel amp adapter

The reason I was able to sell the VM-1a was because the new TI-1b adapter gets you to about 90% of the level of the VM-1a.

Well what if you do not have the RAAL SR1a or CA-1a. That is a mistake and you should test drive my 2 phones to see if it is even better than your 2-channel. The SR1a is similar to 2-channel and the CA-1a has a traditional headphone sound.

BTW - the Schiit preamp I mention above is a headphone amp/preamp and I used it as a preamp, the headphone amp part is too weak for my RAALs.