External bluetooth transmitters/receivers are also the cure for shitty PC bluetooth stacks.
They don't switch to garbage quality mode every time an app, website, or game queries the microphone. They don't re-enable shitty defaults every software update. They don't require text config files in linux and the critical settings in those files don't get ignored due to open source politics. They don't mess up pairing every time you reboot into a different OS. They just work. $50 will banish all your bluetooth troubles to the deepest pits of the underworld, where they belong.
Yes, TOSLINK is a godsend. It's immune to ground loops and motherboard manufacturers that don't give a shit, which is all of them, even ones that brand around having decent audio (ProArt I'm looking at you).
I have a different Asus motherboard and the audio hardware is on an apparently flaky USB bus (the motherboard has several, as they do). Even with an optical connection, the audio drops out sometimes. It was maddening to me when I first got the computer, because things like this are usually "not all the CPU pins connected to the motherboard" or "you know that RAM you bought on Amazon? yeah, it doesn't remember what you store in it! savings!". But... not this time. (I can pretty much kill USB on this machine by plugging in a bunch of unused USB cables; plugged into the computer, but nothing on the other end.)
I use an external DAC and I've learned which buses break USB when looked at the wrong way. But ... of course the on-board audio is just a USB device. Can't waste a PCIe lane on that!
This is for input but my lav mic is really quiet and has a pretty high noise floor and ground loop (not too bad tho) using the motherboard's 3.5mm port. Bought a USB sound "card" for 5.99 on Amazon a year back, it’s not even close. It’s output is mediocre at best but I don’t use that.
Using an external receiver can help too.