What does Jitter sound like?

Needless to say, I take much of the claimed auditory observations with a grain of salt. Many theoretical differences that justify large expenditures do not conform with auditory reality.

Agree 100%! Large expenditures do NOT conform with auditory reality. This is why mildy compressed Mp3/AAC can sound pretty damn good or indistinguishable from uncompressed music!!

So of course explanations of the sound of jitter will be vague. After all, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

I agree again. However I would suggest that any audiophiles that claim to have seen Angels dancing (on a pin or otherwise) are not to be trusted concerning their other audio observations - especially when it comes to incredible claims of miracle improvements from their tweaks and/or upgrades.

The SCD-1 is different from some CDPs, insofar as a Synchronous Time Accuracy Controller (S-TACT) chip that is located next to DAC in the analog section of the player, isolates master-clock generation and signal voltage-pulse generation in one chip at a remove from noise propagated by high-speed operations in the RF & digital sections. The stock quartz oscillator chip is located in the analog section 1" from the S-TACT. In a clock upgrade the stock oscillator chip is removed & replaced by a lead-out to a 45Mhz clock PCB. To eliminate the possibility of noise induced by capacitive effects across the PCB, I lifted Xin pin of the S-TACT from the PCB and made short ptp connections between Xin & clock PCB. So in view of Sony's set-up that theoretically isolates master clock from digital noise, I am inclined to consider that audible improvement may be largely due to accuracy of the replacement clock.

I've heard audible improvements upgrading power to clock, and also after upgrading power and various passive SMD components around DSPs, PLLs, and motor/servo in the digital section. Whether this is due to reduced jitter or to reduction of other noise I cannot say. But I have no doubt that improvements in the digital domain other than clock are audible as well.

Esoteric sells an optional out-board clock for its top player that's accurate to a half part per billion; magazine reviewers claimed to hear a difference. I know a fellow in Japan who makes similar claims using an external pro signal generator to clock his player.

All this might sound like an exercise in diminishing returns but my ears tell me otherwise.

Shadorne,
I know what you mean. There is a point after which it really is just a silly excess. I've had just as much emotional involvement with my music through the years of upgrades, as I do with my car system. ALl the upgrades have never changed my response to my favorite music. For me I have come to the full realization that it has (always)been more about a fascination/obsession with awesome hardware than as "the" medium to profound musical enjoyment. I have acheived what I think is a great "sound" but I could hear "Blue Sky" (ABB) or Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" on an AM radio and get just as passionate about it, as I do on a high dollar system.
I would argue that 99.99% of the audiogon community is also motivated by the same hardware obsession (why else are you here,eh?). Sure there is something to sitting in the sweet spot, in your space but that's all just initial conditions to the hardware equation. But it's all good, as I clearly prefer this to most other money sucking fascinations. TGIF.

Shadorne, Feb. Stereophile is one of the better issues in recent memory, with entertaining assaults by Atkinson & Fremer on the "MP3 as indistinguishable from CD" fiction propagated in the mainstream press. At the opposite extreme there are (finally) several less-than-superlative reviews of megabuck products (e.g. Escalante Fremont & BAT Rex.)

Of course you won't believe it, but RBCD on my tweaked CDP and vinyl on my tweaked TT run neck & neck. Making comparisons across analog & digital media raises the bar & can be helpful in measuring progress. MP3 sounds great doing an 8 minute mile on the treadmill.

First off wantd to congratulate soem of our members here for their incisive and descriptive talents.
It has been propven without a doubt that Jitter is very perjudicial to our music, there was a test done in which a panel of well versed and auditioned audiophile and musicians listened for a litle while to a CD of first cut recording direct (to avoid missinterpretaions or wrong intent) then to listen to the same part of music but the 100th generation of recorded music on CD as well.
Same data, same bits no data error, same thing, what was the differnece between those two recordings?
you guessed it!!! much Jitter, not enough to trow you off but enough to sound degraded and lacking compared to the 1st generation recording, that point established i can tell by own experience that i have heard lossles compresion played on a Macintosh computer through a $150 USB DAC into a Audible Illusions modded preamp into Quicksilver Audio monoblocks into Vandersteen speakers sounded A LOT!!! better than a very good source of playing the same CD version going though a Benchmark media or Classé DAC going though the same pipelines.
So even though MP-3 is sonically inferior to 16 Bits also 16 bits are very rudimentary when compared to 24 bits 96 Khz or 192 KHz material.

That is my 2 cents here.
Losless compression might be the way to go for playback, still discs are required for portability and to take it to your car, boat, aprty or friends house ofr a listen to his/her new toys, etc.

Also when evaluating new components or speakers this still is the batter way to go.
Long like to CD's thank God DVD audio is here also. . .

God Bless!

gonzalo