Does power cord for desktop PC matter?


I recently dabbled into power cords from the basic ones and the improvements have been tremendous. I use my desktop as a source, not ideal but it's where I do most of my music discovery and this is my preferred method. 

I'd like to ask you fellas with experience, do power cords for desktop matter for the sound?

I plan to get a very nice (affordable) active USB cable at a later date for the PC. I just want to keep it simple and deal with power cables at this time. Thanks y'all.

128x128samureyex

I think you’re just polishing the turd.  As you know your computer is a very noisy source, and you’re much better off just using the computer for music discovery and getting a separate streamer and subscribing to Qobuz for music.  The PC to your computer is the least of your worries, so don’t waste your $$$.  Don’t mean to be harsh — just being honest here. 

The issue with the PC cord is the noise emitted by the power supply itself. If it’s near your audio system, keep it outside of your power conditioner’s clean zone, and consider a shielded power cable, but not an expensive cable.

Usually we say to keep all your audio gear on one circuit to eliminate the chances of ground loops.  The PC, being noisy and potentially high powered, is an exception to that rule.

An inexpensive USB isolator ($40 or less) can be useful in preventing digital or analog ground loops from forming. Doesn’t have to be "audio grade."

Everything matters.  

Whether it's audible or not only you can make that decision.  USB can be quite noisy as it has a 5V line that transmits your computer power to your other devices.  

I use a powered USB hub and a USB power blocker dongle to isolate the computer power from the DAC.  I would think that this would make a bigger difference than the PC power cord but YMMV

 

Try it, might be tremendous for you. Did not make spectacularly poor SQ any better for me.

I agree that results will vary, but I also believe that everything matters.

Tried it, no difference on my Dell XPS 8950 with 1000 watt power supply. 

Power cords and power conditioners are useful in both giving clean power to equipment but also to dissipate the noise rejected by the equipment it’s attached to and avoid its contamination to other equipments’ power supplies. In the case of a PC, the benefits come probably more from the second category rather than the first if I had to guess. But who knows? Doesn’t hurt to try using a power cord you already own or if you get one loaned to you.