jitter? can it be seen by using software...

[jtan]

is it possible to detect jitter without using oscilloscope?

[Halc]

You can get relative measures of media based jitter with Plextor Premium drive using Plextools Professional. You can get absolute measures (to a certain degree of accuracy) with a calibrated CD testing equipment (usually based on the Philips CDM12 mechanism). The rest of the details you can get with an electron-microscope, if needed :)

regards,
Halc

[jtan]

those are unlikely... is there a public data of which CD-R writer produce the most minimal jitters?

[Halc]

There are no results that are conclusive (i.e. using a professional analyzer with various media on several units from the same manufacturer).

However, CDRInfo has shown jitter level measurements in their Writing Quality article:

ftp://64.124.173.56/Writing_Quality_13_1_2003.exe
(self-extracting rar-archive, see page 135 onwards)

It shows that Yamaha F1 with AudioMaster quality at 4x recording has the lowest amount of jitter of those drives they measured.

regards,
halc