Is headphone listening a primary or backup for you when listening to music?

I got back i to phones when got divorced.   I packed up all of my gear,  put it in storage and got a decent headphone set up.  

That was 5 or 6 years ago but I still use it occasionally.     

I use it when it's late also.  Great way to listen without bothering others.  

I rarely use headphones at all. I used to use them for two months each summer, as I would move to a college campus to run a educational program. I’d bring a turntable, a phono section, a headphone amp, and a decent pair of headphones (like the Audeze LCD-2), and 50 albums. The sound was pretty good, and I enjoyed learning about recordings from that perspective. But though I’ve tried many headphones, I’ve never felt comfortable in them. Every one of them feels too hot, and with too much pressure. I’ve had friends say that no, these headphones really don’t have much pressure, but for me, they are all pretty much intolerable after an hour. I want the sound outside my brain, for the most part.  As someone else said, they do come in handy to diagnose something going on in my system - I can remove the room and the speakers and listen. 

David

I’ve got both, and while headphones are nice they cannot put performers and performances viscerally and as big and spatially in the room like a home system can — not even close and not substitutes at all.  I like headphones for what they can do and my home system for what it does, and never the twain shall meet. 

My RAAL SR1a are 2-channel speakers on my head. The closet you will come to 2-channel with headphones. Actually, there is another company in Europe that has a similar concept, but I never heard it.

The RAAL 1995 Immanis is considered one of the very best phones at any price. I love that phone too, but the much lower cost RAAL SR1a is still the champ for me because it gets me so close to 2-channel.

My RAAL SR1a is my second-best system, though my Mini Maggie’s (3rd best) are also high quality and I have them setup like headphones.

Like many, my headphone based system is put to use when my wife is asleep.  I really do enjoy it but loudspeakers offer me a far more realistic presentation of the performance.