Jitter Is Not a Number

Two jitter figures can be identical and describe entirely different things: a harmless rise in the noise floor, or non-harmonic spurs the ear picks out at once. Picoseconds on a datasheet are a figure of merit for signal fidelity, not a guide to audible fidelity, and some of the most highly regarded DACs use receivers with high jitter. The full re-evaluation, with a harsh look at the CS8416 and at the study usually cited to dismiss jitter, is in my new article, Don’t Look Back in Anger: Re-evaluating Decades of the Jitters.