Hey all,

I've got a pair of HifiMan HE-400 headphones. This is an extremely amateur question, so please excuse me. However I could find no info on the topic while scouring the internet.

I was wondering if there are any problems with using the HE-400s with my guitar amp's head unit (the actual amplifier/driver)? I have a Marshall half-stack, and my head unit is all-digital (no tube amplification). I'm in an apartment complex, and would not like to disturb my neighbors while playing guitar. I've got a 1/4th inch adaptor, so I can connect my HE-400s to the "headphone out" port. I know this is an asinine question, but: will it damage the headphones? And how will the audio quality/fidelity be? I would use my ATH-M50s, but they were stolen a month back.

Thanks so much.

**EDIT** OOPS I didn't read your commentary thoroughly...  If you have a solid state amp, thats a different story all together.  I am not sure how your amp will respond to a headphone load.
 
Guitar tube amps (generally) NEED a load across them.  Their output transformers will "blow up" if they don't have a resistive/inductive load... IE speaker load across.
 
I am not sure why... but this is my understanding of most traditional guitar tube amps.
 
PS I have never personally tried running any of my tube amps without a speaker load across the OTs.
 
If your amp has a cabinet emulated line out, you could send that to a headphone amp and unplug the speaker cab.  You would have to research further in/out impedances and line level matching though... line level recording studio gear is not always compatible with hi-fi or head-fi.

Haha you are very knowledgeable regarding tube amps. And I really appreciate the response. Guess I'll do some more research and wait for more responses. I'd hate to do something wrong.

Curious what marshall head is it?
 
ART has their head tap and I think Behringer has something similar.  They are passive / resistive speaker level devices that allow you to tap off the speaker output and plug in headphones.  I don't know though if they work well without a speaker load on the amp.
 
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/art-headtap-headphone-tap

It is an MG100 HDFX. One of their cheaper options... And if it came down to it, I wouldn't mind picking up an intermediary pedal to ensure functionality. Either ART's or Behringer's. I just wish they were a little less expensive.

That amp has a cab emulated headphone out right on the front pannel.  Just plug your cans into that... for starters.  Double check the manual, to see if it turns off the power amp.  I think it does though.  The MG50 and MG15 combos do for quiet headphone practice.