There’s no strong correlation between jitter and frequency accuracy. Many people confuse jitter with frequency accuracy, believing that higher frequency accuracy means better sound quality. This is a misconception.

Jitter refers to the short-term instability of a clock signal in the time domain, manifesting as random or periodic deviations of signal edges relative to their ideal timing. Simply put, it’s the difference between the actual transition time and the ideal time.

Frequency accuracy refers to the long-term deviation of the output frequency from the nominal frequency (or ideal frequency), usually expressed in ppm (parts per million). It reflects the “absolute accuracy” of the frequency.

For digital audio applications, jitter performance is crucial for sound quality, where frequency accuracy, below 0.1ppm typically, has negligible impact on sound quality.