Why use a headphone amp?

"Why use a headphone amp?"

 

So that you can get the peak performance from your headphones?

Majority anyway.
 

All Headphones?

 

You see, the general hardware with the headphone jack assumes you'll be using cheap consumer headphones and that you won't be caring about sound quality because that's the majority of the market. Why spend more on the headphone amp when the majority of the market doesn't even listen on high quality headphones? They'll skimp on the headphone section and put a little more quality to the speaker side. Now what happens when you plug in a much higher quality headphone into that same headphone jack? You get something that sounds weak and lacking because it wasn't meant to drive headphones with that sort of power. You'll need a dedicated headphone amp that will push the headphones to its full potential.

 

Btw, a stereo a/v receiver is not a dedicated headphone amp for sure. That means the headphone amp section uses very cheap parts. The assumption is that you're using cheap headphones and that you don't care about sound quality.

 

I have a K701 connected to a AV amp and compared with a headphone amp. The result is day and night. If you are a serious music listener, you will appreciate the high quailty of music reproduce from the headphone amp. This is a well worth investment.

Yes, many receivers will power headphones.

Some are better than others, of course. Most use a voltage dropping resistor to lower the output from the speaker amp section and send it to the headphone jack.

It's not the best way to power a headphone, but it can work. If you enjoy the sound you're getting, then go ahead and keep using it.

If someone wants a headphone that needs a bit of power but doesn't want to buy a dedicated headphone amp, a receiver can be a good, affordable solution. Especially older two channel receivers, since those have largely been discarded for HT receivers these days - there are lots of cheap ones out there.

It would probably have the power, but you risk other things, hiss with low impedance headphones, for example. I wouldn't choose a cmoy or toy amp over a receiver, but a good, well designed amp with killer PSU is worth it if you're serious about headphones, yes.