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I can use the network to play music files through the Denon but I have to have the tv on to navigate through the files.The songs show on the Denon display but only one at a time.Imagine 50,000 files.I don't want to turn the tv on to navigate the music files I would like some kind of viewer maybe a touchscreen if that would work.I can't believe a $300 or $500 dac would be better than a $5000 receiver with a built in dac.As for headphones?
Well, not to stir up this hornet's nest, but a $300 or $500 DAC (assuming we're talking about JUST A DAC, not one of those whizbang audio interface studio-in-a-box magillicuddies that are so popular) will be basically identical to whatever is in that $5000 receiver for performing that task. There's a few reasons this makes complete sense, the biggest being that the most expensive and esoteric chips available from TI, AKM, and so on aren't really all that expensive as raw parts, and the second biggest being that most of the money that went into that receiver (aside from the big mark-up) is into the transformer, IP licencing, and R&D. The amplifier isn't cheap either.
All of that being said, the 5308 shouldn't have trouble with "basic" headphones (I'm talking about basically any dynamic under the sun) - it cannot drive electrostats, and may have trouble with electrets, orthos, or other complex loads (I don't know much about it's headphone output abilities; I know the speaker amplifiers in that unit are fairly robust though, so assuming it's routing through those and assuming that circuit isn't complete trash, it may even have enough grunt for some of those harder to drive loads (but it may be VERY inefficient at doing this; it probably uses over 100W just to sit idle, I don't think any headphone amplifier approaches that at full output)).
As far as the control/UI thing - what you're asking for does exist, but will require a bit of additional hardware to be purchased. If I recall correctly, the 5308 is on the list of Denon components that can support AirPlay - if you had and iDevice available (and iTunes, and the network, and so on) you could probably control it from said iDevice without the TV enabled. Alternately, you can get something like an AirPort Express or AppleTV and use that to feed a headphone amplifier (or more basic integrated amplifier or receiver) and control that with an iDevice as well; this will almost certainly be more power efficient (again, for what we're doing, that big Denon is just a massive power sink - for it's intended use (home theater) such a demand is acceptable, but putting 100W or more into a device to get MAYBE 10 mW (0.01W) back out is somewhat silly imho). The only advantage the 5308 really has is the Dolby Headphone mode and other DSP features, but you can get identical functionality from a computer and a number of less complex devices (JVC/Victor used to make an outboard Dolby Headphone amp, I don't know if they still do); again, this may or may not require additional hardware or money and it's entirely your choice.
As far as what headphones to buy, go audition something - spending a thousand dollars just because you can doesn't make a lot of sense, especially when you're drawing from minimal experience. Would you buy speakers unheard? Would you buy a car without test-driving it? The headphones you've listed are all very different (I have not heard all of them, but even between the ones I have, you're hitting all over the place with no real coherence). We could just as easily tell you to go shop from the list of most expensive headphones by manufacturer, but I very much doubt that will do you any good.
Once you pick a headphone you like, then worry about downstream - it may or may not require additional amplification or specialized hardware (something like say, the Koss ESP/950 not only requires specialized hardware, but includes it in the package; something like the AKG K701 does not explicitly require specialized hardware, but may perform suboptimally with certain hardware). You also have to take functionality into account - is the layout of your listening space conducive to being tethered to your AVR? Or would it be better if you could put some distance in there? An outboard amplifier could facilitate this. There are also wireless headphones (some of them can be quite spendy).
If you have no ability go and test headphones out at through a retail environment, you may have to buy a few online or from a catalog and decide for yourself. My suggestion would be to at least do some preliminary research. If you have no ability to do that, just buy everything you've listed (I'm dead serious) and return or resell everything you dislike (I believe all of the models you've mentioned are available on Amazon or HeadRoom, so returns should be possible; always check with the retailer though, some retailers (like AudioCubes) do not generally accept returns, and others (like Beach Audio) charge a restocking fee).
