FYI, the output on these includes optical, using a micro digital plug (like we use on the macbooks) on the headphone out if I recall. You can connect it to a DAC or a home theater receiver and the sound is not to shabby (at anything above 128 kbps
and using MP3 or wma - it is a rare DAC that can interpret ATRAC [probably a Sony DAC]). I remember trying that a couple of times.