Direct Drive or Belt Drive?

[I-Lion Tafari]

....and d) the Planar is a very reliable player and sounds great with a very good cartridge.

[6anbatte]

....and d) the Planar is a very reliable player and sounds great with a very good cartridge.

I'll second that!

[gunosantos]

Not sure if this is of interest but Rega Planar recommend you manually rotate the (belt-driven) platter before you turn the deck on so that it is already moving when the motor kicks in.

This a) makes sure the deck is already up to speed, b) takes strain off the motor and c) lengthens the life of the belt.

Thanks for the tip.

[AnorakTrev]

Hi there Easy,
As stated previously,direct drive is very good for turntablism,cueing up and backspinning.But the main advantage of belt drive is the degree of isolation of motor noise.( "Cogging" and frequency related mains noises and pulses ).This is usually why "hi-fi" decks are belt driven,and yes,there are hi-fi turntables out there that use two or even three motors.
Keep that vinyl spinning!

[bullit]

I use direct drive, they have higher torque then belt drives and i find they tend to have more features, although i imagine you can buy expensive belt drive decks, but most dj level decks tend to be direct drive.
I have never noticed any noises from the deck, self grounded too which comes in handy..

[Dadi Digi]

Forget the belt drive. Technics 1200

NUFF said. These are a workhorse of a deck that just dont go wrong.

[6anbatte]

Thought I'd better point out that my comments earlier didn't relate to DJing. Definitely wouldn't DJ with the Rega.

[Bill]

Unless you go very high end with other high end components,dd is the way to go.There is no noise difference otherwise and the features and reliabilty are better even if your not into mixing and j'n.

I do like to interact with 2 dd tables.I am a home dj matching up dubs and tunes and riddims,with a simple 4 chan mixer and mic.Lots of fun with my collection its a living musuem .

1200s do rule thats why they have been around so long

[_Easy_]

rightious fellas, i did end up going with a dd so it should be here tomarrow and when i get her up and spinning, ill let you know how she sounds!

[leggo rocker]

I've had both belt and direct drive - but I've got rid of the belt drive t/ts.

I had a belt drive deck (project Debut) which had more feedback through the cartridge (which is a type of microphone as wareika crrectly points out).

Currently I am running a Sony PS-X65 direct drive table. I am still having feedback problems but mnowhere near as bad as with the project.

What direct drive table manufacturers try to do is to make the motor as fine as possible for quietness. Then they use something like 'Quartz Lock' to make sure the table isn't pulsing but retains rock steady speed (and thus pitch). This works really well. Steps to avoid feedback include REALLY HEAVY platters and plinths to absorb / stop sound vibration from getting to the cartridge. Anorak Trev revealed in another thread that he had made his own plinth from SLATE and it's a few feet thick! Other forms of isolation such as special feet are also used in an attempt to stop that pesky feedback problem.

Isolation is the name of the game, and that's why Audiophiles love belts, because the platter is suspended to isolate it. You cant do this with direct drive, the platter must be fixed to the motor. Some designs then try to suspend the whole damn thing inside the plinth. But you'll still have the 'noise' of the motor to deal with. Which leads us back to them making the finest motor they can and spinning the platter on a very high quality bearing which all equals quiet running and stable speed control.

I don't think it is fair to say ALL high end decks are belt, many VERY high end decks are in fact direct drive.

Like this one: http://www.thevintageknob.org/SONY/sony ... /PSX9.html


I guess I am a Direct drive fan and one of the main reasons is perhaps the most ridiculous bit of twisted logic my mind has managed to conjure up...

... I just can't bring myself to spend loads of money on a record deck that's driven by an expensive elastic band!