"The PC motherboard may limit my options."
Why don't you TELL us if you have optical or coax digital outputs????

Haven’t settled on the motherboard yet. But you’re definitely correct. It maybe difficult to find ones with anything other than USB.

But assuming you had all the options, what do you recommend?

No reason not to use USB, as far as I know (and assuming you’ll not have driver issues because of obscure hard- and software).

I personally prefer optical because I've had issues with DACs and USB drivers in the past, but that's just me. The other benefit is the protection against EM noise.

The downside is the lack of support for anything higher than 24-bit/96KHz but that doesn't bother me.

Drivers are one thing about USB that worries me. Is it usually pretty seamless, plug and play now a days?

A lot of us just use a well-reviewed dongle (with physical volume control), it's really just plug and play, don't worry too much about extra drivers/et cetera, more info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/121yeg3/my_headphones_buzz_more_or_less_depending_on/jdoixm2/

Dongles with physical volume control (helps with reducing/remove static/buzzing/hissing/etc. noise, especially when gaming), more info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/11my6hp/under_150_dac_for_dt_770_pro_80/jbklpr8/

For the powered speakers, you might want an actual thing for that. As dongles (without volume control) and so on will often make the buzzing/static/hissing/etc. noises way louder.

Btw, most motherboards even with the S/PDIF, or like 5.1 options, and so on can have the buzzing/etc. real loud when you're gaming at high framerates/resolution. So the dongle with physical volume control can fix that. For the coil whine, see one of my posts nested within those threads but generally you just undervolt or get Noctua coolers/fans.

The motherboards will pretty much be with Realtek ALC897/ALC1200/etc. even if it's like an expensive one, so make sure you look at the specifications and the I/O pictures properly for your desired outputs/inputs and so on.

So definitely make sure you can reduce/remove that random background buzzing noise with the external audio devices. Some amps/DACs/etc. like say from iFi will often still have the hissing or sensitivity. So just do some research and avoid ones where people complained about those static noises. Especially when idle or with not sounds playing, the static noise can get really irritating.

PC gaming with budget IEMs and headphones: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/11vxaed/gaming_headphones_for_competitive_fps_on_pc/jcvjg2s/

IEMs/TWS earbuds and headphones with PC gaming, squig.link, AutoEQ, parametric EQ: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/11n9l4u/fiio_fh3_for_tarkov/jbm9db1/

With undervolting the GPU/CPU/etc. for less noise pollution, I actually also have a comment (like here: https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/11gymgg/wired_headphones_that_block_out_noise_well/jaqyzxd/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/11kp54t/best_noise_canceling_something_that_would_block/jb8lws7/) about that too, lol. Sorry the excessive links, smh, lmao.

Open back headphones and solutions to PC noises: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/11dh2v9/is_there_anything_i_can_do_stop_hearing_my_own/ja8mltw/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/HeadphoneAdvice/comments/xpa9zd/pc_noise_with_open_back_headphones/iq2znjn/

Basically search up Noctua fans. Specifically the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM fans.

These days there's the Thermaltake ToughFan 12, Phanteks T30-120, etc. that are a bit cheaper/better/etc. compared to Noctua. The Arctic P12 PWM PST (5 Pack) is still the best value, just be aware of the annoying resonance range, it's like ~1000RPM.

How to maybe soundproof your room for better noise reduction/isolation: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/10epr17/struggling_to_enjoy_my_headphones_in_noisy/j4t4qaw/

In general, yeah, USB should be fine. If I had the option, I would would go for a motherboard with an optical output, though. It might come in handy.

Sorry I thought you already had the PC. Honestly I'd suggest going for a motherboard that has a DAC out USB port. Those are filtered better. Back when I first got into HIFI in 2015, USB filters were all the rage. There were a lot of them, from cheap to expensive, with one of the most affordable being the Audioquest Jitterbug. I don't hear anyone talk about that stuff anymore. Not sure if it still makes a difference.
Anyways Optical and coax digital tend to top you out around 96Khz vs USB which can go all the way up to DSD so you're limiting yourself by not going USB. Some (some) people have said optical in particular sounds cleaner if you use a good cable. Personally I've never had high end enough gear to notice a difference between optical and USB and I prefer having the option to go to higher sample rates with USB.

Also if you want to go down the "I need a clean signal!" rabbit hole, you might want to see if USB filtering is still a thing in the hobby I haven't looked into it for awhile.

HTH

No worries. And thank you for the suggestions.

A DAC out USB port is made especially for that purpose? Interesting. I’ll look into that.

Does the output option affect CPU usage? I assume it’s minimal if any.

Yes. It affects CPU usage but that hasn't mattered since like the 486 days. If you are using the line out 3.5mm jack on your motherboard, your CPU is doing some of the processing, but we're talking like less than 1% usage hit on a midrange modern CPU like a 13600K. If you are using digital out, the processinmg is done entirely outside the computer. It's sending a raw digital signal to your DAC and your DAC does all the work. DAC out USB ports are regular USB ports but there is filtering on the motherboard to prevent some of the noise issues that can sometimes arise with USB. It's a good feature to have on a mobo if you like audio more than the avg PC user.

That’s very helpful to know. Thank you. I assume they are labeled or advertised as much?

If you don’t use it for DAC out, can it be used for normal USB purposes?

Speaking of which, does it matter what USB port version is used for a output to a DAC, as in 2.0, 3.0 etc?

I guess that depends on what the DAC USB input is spec’d to?

Literally never had any issues with USB

I have like 6 different dongles without volume knobs and none of them have any noise.

I think physical knobs are mostly for iem users that want more range at low volume levels than what you can get in windows.

Use USB-C into my Ferrum Erco and my Mojó 2. Works great.

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I've never really seen anything other than USB, but I haven't used much in the way of desktops/towers in years, just laptops.

I also experience noise issues with USB fairly regularly....not sure exactly why. But static and such, especially it comes through when using the trackpad.

My solution, which definitely works but I'm not sure why, is to use a topping ds10. This is still USB input, but it has optical and spdif output in addition to analogue. So I have USB to the ds10 and use the digital output to my DAC and it's clean as a whistle.

So, I guess it's a combination of USB and OPT/SPDIF for me.

I run Optical to my Fiio K7, I chose optical over USB purely because it is driverless and I'm lazy.

i prefer optical since it sounds smoother than usb and it was pretty much always like that with any dac i have tried but i do like usb sometimes when i want some more energy. Really depends on the day :) its nice to have both options.