I know what Jitter is, but what is it? :)

[Etherium]

Ok, I talk about jitter all the time. I've been an audiophile for quite some time. However, I don't really fully understand what it is. I know that you don't want it, and it's something about the timing of the 1s and 0s, but can anyone explain it in a way that's easy to comprehend?

For example, I understand how a CD transport can cause jitter (sort of), but how does "DAW induced jitter" occur?

There is a guy at work that treats a lot of what I say with incredulity. I'll tell him that a CDs sound will change depending on the level of jitter in the transport as well as other factors, and because I can't fully explain, somehow, to him, it makes it untrue (he's a Cornell geek).

Help me out.

 

[Tim20]

I don't think anyone can explain it better than Bob Katz. Go to digido.com and read his articles. I believe he is the best audiophile mastering engineer out there.

And if you are interested in mastering definetly buy his book. I think he has an article on mastering listed over at TC Electronics too.

 

[RyanR]

Simply put, jitter is when the space between samples isn't even. A CD has 44,100 samples a second, but when do they play? That is what the clock determines - the clock ensures even sample distribution. If the space between samples isn't even, you get jitter.

But yeah, Bob Katz is the man. Here is a direct link to his article on jitter:

http://www.digido.com/portal/pmodul...8/?PHPSESSID=bc193125d229a69c8f4227d9df648d6a

I also recommend his book - and very interesting (sometimes technical) and informative book indeed.

 

[THM]

Yeah - the Bob Katz book "Audio Mastering - The Art and the Science" is highly recommended.