Does jitter exist - not if a manufacturer uses systems to mask it and it's artefacts (as many do) I have many DAC's and my ears and system(s) are living examples of what jitter does to music reproduction.
My ears don't live in an oscilloscope or on A3 frequency printout
In MY real world I am using numerous sources/routes and devices to establish which if any improve the sound stage, the 'blackness' the imaging and depth.
What I am finding as I work my way back to an acceptable standard of reproduction is that jitter exists, it causes the edginess in the upper register, smears the image and makes the bass 'woolly'.
Yes, it will result in some huge pushback but. When I dodge the streaming 'kit' being sold as audio nirvana (it isn't) with its compressed playback (bricking) and designs intended to mask the in your face, boring, tiring and less than believable reproduction it's hard to ignore the cause.
To that end I have sourced multiple routes and my system is geared up to provide optimal signals and reproduction (for me) with instant comparisons of kit, routes etc.
Simple example is one of my test tracks - 1985 Redbook - Polygram copy of Brothers In Arms - DDD - pressed in Berlin. Totally emotive, swaying rising and falling reproduction. Post 2000 streams - bricked. Pushed to eliminate nuances and music (from my opinion) and whilst many like it (who may not be aware of early digital recording.
jitter adds to the post millenium fatigue and glare with many high end manufacturers engineer their signals to mask as the drive is to sell streams and convince you all audio perfection has been reached. They call this
Upsampling or
Digital Filtering
The Mask: Many modern DACs use high-tap-count interpolation filters. This can make the sound "smooth," but it often does so by "pre-ringing"—essentially adding a tiny echo
before the musical note.
The Result: This is likely what you’re (and I do) hearing as the "smeared image." If the timing of the leading edge of a note is blurred by a filter or jitter, the brain struggles to "place" the instrument in a 3D space.
The woolly bass and glassy highs - They are the classic signature of timing instability.
High-End Edginess: Jitter manifests as "sidebands" around high frequencies. It’s not a separate noise; it’s a distortion that is
mathematically related to the music. This is why it causes "fatigue"—your brain has to work harder to separate the "glare" from the actual violin or cymbal.
Wooly Bass: People often think bass is too slow to be affected by jitter, but bass impact depends on the
phase accuracy of the harmonics. If the timing is off, the "slam" becomes a "thud."
Blackness (noise floor v resolution)
A site might measure a -120dB noise floor with a static tone, but they aren't measuring
signal-correlated noise.
- When the music starts, does the noise floor stay down? Or does it "pump" with the music?
- I use a device called a Monarchy DIP I use it with a high-quality transport AND 2 NAS sources. The Monarchy (still available if you talk to CC Poon) ensures that the "silence between the notes" stays silent. That "blackness" is what allows the depth and imaging I am talking about to emerge and amaze.
