Best DAC/Amp for ~$500

Hi, long time reader, first time poster. I've been able to get by so far by reading reviews, but I'm ready to buy a DAC/Amp, but I can't decide which one is best/suitable for my needs.

Just so we get a few things out of the way:

about 25% of my collection is lossless, the other 75% is V0 mp3, which is good enough for my music. (most of it is rap, and because of the loudness war, I doubt flac/alac would make a big difference, but I digress.. ).

The purpose of this dac/amp will be for headphones only. I have a home theater setup, but I would like a setup just for my computer.

I don't need portability, and if a full size offers the same performance for less price or more performance for the same price as a smaller model, I don't have any problems with that. I also don't have any problems buying a separate amp and dac.

My budget is $500, but I can go up to $650 ( and maybe more, it depends )

I would love a tube amp ( since they look cool, and I'm a computer engineering/computer science guy, so I love the retro aspect -- as well as that old school sound ) but I understand that the low impedance of the denon headphones I have don't make them a very good match

I would prefer the dac to take 96/24 input, but its not a neccessity (I only have a few tracks at 96/24, and I don't see it becoming very popular in the near future... its just one of things ).

Right, so now that I've explained myself, here's what I've been looking at:

Ray Samuels Predator
HeadAmp Pico (dac/amp combo)
iBasso D10 Cobra
iQube v2 (not quite out yet, so it's kinda hard to judge, but I keep seeing its name pop up in similar threads)
Meier Corda Cantate 2
Cambridge DacMagic ( possibly paired with a audio-ag c2c )
emu 0404 ( again, possibly paried with a audio-ag c2c )

thanks for your time and help!

.Sup - Denon AH-D5000's

flohmann - Yeah, I've seen the dac1 tossed around a few times. It is really nice, but my main problem with it is its price and lack of analog inputs. I would like to have the option of plugging in my iPod, etc.

I have to admit tho, the dac1 is VERY nice.

The apogee is nice, but it has a lot of features I don't need, and I'd rather use something that does use the USB port, since I have a PC at home and run linux at work (USB drivers are most likely more stable).

The fact that it doesn't have analog in is also a problem, since I'd like to be able to use it with my iPod.

Sorry, I know I'm picky, but I really wanna make sure my choice is the best informed option.

just caught this:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f105/u...ce-xm5-306883/

Don't know how I missed it before, but it definitely churns things up a bit.

It seems like almost a 3 way tie between the iBasso, Predator, and Pico. They all have their strong points, although from what I can tell, the iBasso has the best sound (although I like its looks the least )

EDIT: After looking at the price of the iBasso, I decided to buy it. For $300, I can afford to get it, and maybe in a year or so buy some full size desktop stuff (maybe get a dac1 usb... ). Thanks for everyone's help!