Are Headphone amps worth the expense?

I think they are. I have read that the headphone outputs on high end equipment often are not up to par with the same quality of output as the device. I built a cheap cmoy headphone amp using a Burr Brown 2227 opamp. I use it with
Grado SR-80 phones and WOW. I didn't believe the sound. I can't believe that high end phone amps do much better. I took my homebrew amp into a high end audio shop and they said it sounded like a 250.00 phone amp. You might consider building a cmoy amp. Many places on the internet with info. Dean

I never owned a separate headphone amp until recently.
I just relied on whatever headphone input a piece of gear had built in.

Then when I no longer had any gear with built in headphone inputs I purchased a Burson headphone amp, and discovered how poor the bulit in units mostly are.

My phones are the entry level Grado SR 60,which sound so much better thru the Burson, that I am considering moving up to the top of the line Grados.

Headphone listening can be quite educational.
You can remove all the influence the room brings to your sound, and really hear what's on a recording.

I used headphones to discerne the differences in power cables.
The differences I heard from entry level Shunyata to Annaconda was quite easy to hear thru the phones.

A good set of phones and a good headphone amp can be quite a smart investment,and provide a real high end musical expereince for way less dollars than a conventional amp, speaker pre amp set up.

And did I mention, there's no room interference?

Lacee,

I agree. According to John Siau (technical director of Benchmark) headphones are the only way to accurately reproduce a piano - an instrument with very complex harmonic structure. Speakers' Xover screws up this complexity thus timbre. On the other hand I don't like headhones on my head (reminding me it is not a live performance), feeling of immobility (cord) and sound inside of my head instead of soundstage projected in front of me. Sennheiser HD-580 (same drivers as 600) was my last attempt. (I used them with good sounding Benchmark DAC1 built-in headphone amp).

Preamps can drive headphones. I had one of mine modified to do so. It is great but I cannot stand headphones. They put me to sleep.

I guess headphones are an acquired taste.
I'm a musician, I've used them for decades,for me they are a tool.
They are the only gateway that I have found to unravelling the intricasies of recorded music.

I enjoy listening to music in the conventional manner,sitting in a dedicated chair in a dedicated room with dedicated lines and dedicated gear and dedicated listening only to the music and in the end of all this dedication, enjoying the music for what it is.

And what it is is not the music that is on the disc, but the music that is in the room.
ROOM in bold letters, because you are hearing the room as much as you are hearing the music/system.

If it's "all about the music" and that this hobby should only be about the music and not the gear, then those folks who preach this should be using top grade headphone/headamp systems.

Because they are hearing the room's influenace on the music.

Understanding full well that no headphone or headamp is perfect and free from colourations, (as no amp, speaker, pre amp, cdplayer, turntable etc is perfect and free from colourations)you do remove one very big obstacle between you and the music.

Some folks find headphones uncomfortable-I have to wonder, how many and at what price points did you try?

I spent about $70.00 for my Grados, they sound ok, and are not uncomfortable to me, so I don't think you need to spend big bucks for comfort.

Also, I can add on extension cable and am not bound by a captive cord.

Falling asleep?
If they are uncomfortable, how can you fall asleep?

I fall asleep more often in my recliner listening without headphones,what does that mean?

Moving to a dedicated headphone amp(Burson)was such an improvement even with entry level Grados,that I am seriously in the mood to upgrade the phones to something more in line with the quality of the Burson.

I would have to state that headphone amps are worth the extra expense, and perhaps even going one step further and upgrade your current phones while you are at it.

I also have to side with the folks who state that listening to a proper headphone set up is the least expensive way to get state of the art sound comparable to amp/speaker systems costing tens of thousand of dollars more.

I think the few reservations concerning mobility and comfort can be easily dismissed in the trade off of high end sound.

And by the way, if you are listening to the music,why the need to roam about?

I don't move around listening with phones or to my speakers, because my attention is focused on listening to the music, and, oh yeah, isn't that what this is supposed to be all about?