[gimmeheadroom]

Optical is the worst possible interface, it belongs in the 1980s forever.

USB can be noisy, yes. A good DDC will deal with that issue.

 

[BrokeAudiophileMan]

Go fanless. Less noise on the USB ports. Intel CPUs and AMD CPUs ending in U are usually in a fanless configuration or you can also look at an M1 or M2 Macbook air. Double check that whatever you buy is fanless. Also, you really need an external DAC/AMP for headphones. It doesn't have to be anything crazy, it can even be something as cheap and tiny as an iFi Uno if you have easy to drive headphones, but do get something. Onboard audio is never very good.