[cm2187]

I found the DAC to be good enough, way better than any mp3 player I used before the ipod was released.

Complaining about the sound quality of earbuds is only "silly" if the iphone DAC is so bad that one wouldn't tell the difference between a good and bad earphone, which is clearly not the case.

[ebbv]

Again, I'd say, that it comes with an adapter and you can still use whatever headphones you want. So it's a non-issue IMHO.

[cm2187]

I don't for two reasons. One I don't want to carry dongles. Two it blocks the charging port and I often listen to music at my desk, where I also need it to charge. Doesn't work for me.