Belt Drive Turntables vs Direct Drive Turntables: What’s the Difference, and Which is Better?

[@AudioAdvice]

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[@DigbyOdel-et3xx]

All direct drive turntables have lower rumble figures than their belt drive peers. Outliers excepted. Nothing other than the spindle touches the platter in a direct drive turntable. They are all Hall effect generator designs. No gears, no nothing drives them. Rumble that may make it into direct drive will be ( first harmonic) at 33.3 hz or 45hz. as the Platter spins at the speed of the motor 1:1 Belt drive designs do not isolate the motor from the platter. The belt dampens the rumble but does not eliminate it. Rumble figures of all belt drives are typically worse than a direct drive. Since belt drive motors spin either at 300 rpm or 600 rpm. Any (1st. Harmonic) rumble will be at 300hz. Or 600 hz. Both more audible to hearing than rumble of direct drives . Next, this is tiring of micro speed variations in direct drives. For Gawd Sake those issues of cogging were solved by Made in Japan inc. near 50 years ago. There is no truly measurable let alone audible cogging, or micro speed variations in a properly working direct drive turntables. The very vinyl records you buy were mastered on direct drive cutting lathes. If micro speed variations were an issue you would hear it in every vinyl record ever pressed. The reason why especially the boutique turntable manufacturers use belt drive is cost. Off the shelf and they almost always use off the shelf a.c. synchronous or d.c. servo motors to run belt drives from, cost a mear few dollars to mass produce. Direct drive motors were much more costly to engineer and make and when Made in Japan inc. mostly walked away from turntables by the late 90's the supply of proper, cost effective direct drive motors dried up, except for mostly Technics. The revival of vinyl playback has seen investments in modern direct drive motors at cost effective prices to see more and more turntables employ direct drive.🤔

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing your views.

[@kingofuseddurablecars.ls6040]

Thanks for that information. I'm about to purchase a Technics DD Fully Automatic SL 1650. I'm new to the vinyl game just 5 months

[@badmofaux]

Speed variations so micro, you can’t even hear them. But trust us, it’s there. Pretty clever marketing, I’ll give them that. Belt drive is just much easier to manufacture, hence the easy availability of essentially interchangeable product. DD all day long.

[@brickson98m]

Yeah, gotta agree with you here. I was questioning some of what he was saying, and then we got to the CD part. Where they claim tone can be slightly off on a CD. This is simply not true on a professionally mastered and produced CD. It’s digital. 1’s and 0’s. Either it reads that bit of data, or it doesn’t. The only way the tone would be off is if it was off in the master recording. Hence why, if you scratch a vinyl record, you’ll hear a popping or crunching sound when the stylus runs over that second. If you scratch a CD, you won’t hear anything other than the audio cutting out where it can no longer properly read the digital data written to the CD. If your CD drive is failing and running slow, the CD simply won’t play, or the audio will cut out more than it plays. You won’t hear the audio at a different pitch, like on vinyl. I think this video can be chalked up to marketing gibberish. They take the science of it all and strip the truth out of it. Incorrectly representing information. They make a true, important point and proceed to explain it incorrectly. Personally, I find a good quality direct drive to be the better option over a belt drive. But at the end of the day, if high quality components are used, and the turntable is maintained correctly, you will not noticed a difference once the record is spinning and the stylus is set.

[@martybrazill7935]

Very good breakdown. I'm a belt-drive lover for the pure sonics, but I do love how easy Technics SL tables are to live with.

[@AudioAdvice]

Very true! Thanks for sharing 😁

[@greggorychopper]

Being a direct person, I am all about my direct drive!

[@AudioAdvice]

Love to hear it! Cheers!

[@stevelucey7719]

Great comparison! I personally have a belt-driven Pro-ject, but that Technics is a very nice DD table.

[@AudioAdvice]

Right on!

[@j.paulpurdell6110]

technicians solved the problem of motor noise interference many years ago, i own a great direct drive turntable thatt I highly recommend, the Audio-Technica LP 5X which is a direct drive that has a wonderful sound quality.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing. There are a lot of opinions on the subject.

[@bryceallan5743]

Direct drive removed the intermediaries between motor and platter, offering the benefit of low maintenance, but a rubber belt between the motor and the platter had a smoothing effect, which made belt drive more popular. Motor-derived hum, vibration and noise are major challenges in turntable design, so a drive belt between motor and platter helps reduce any remaining motor vibrations, while also moving the source of hum away from the cartridge. Increasing the distance between the motor and the playing surface and using a rubber drive belt can lessen some unwanted motor effects, and transfer less of them to the playing surface. So why not increase the distance between the motor and the platter even more, moving the hum field far away from the cartridge, and only requiring a long drive belt - As with most aspects of turntable design, the answer is a careful balance between the motor drive and the platters rotational friction. The platter is trying to slow down while the motor is pushing it, but if the drive belt is too long its servo reaction time can be delayed. A belt needs to be relatively small, as long as its consistent. Long belts and threads tend to lower the consistency of drive, but a low quality motor is better kept away from the platter. However, as the motors rotational consistency gets better, theres some benefit in linking its motion more closely to the platter. Making the rubber drive-belt longer might well lessen some more unwanted motor effects, but may also cause energy transfer variations from the rubber drive-belt itself, since the flexible nature of the material can cause speed variations. It's important to choose an optimal distance between motor and platter one that allows the energy transfer to be consistent, while still lessening as much motor imperfection as possible.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing!

[@sethfm9773]

Great comparison between the two styles of turntables. They each have their advantages.

[@AudioAdvice]

They certainly do, thanks for watching

[@michaelglenn2399]

I'm definitely a belt-drive guy myself, but there are some great direct drive models out there. Excellent comparison!

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks 👍

[@alexandermikhailov2481]

What DD rumble everyone is talking about? I've been using DD TTs for 40 years and never heard a tiniest hint of rumble noise. Perhaps it's because the DD motor rotates at 0.5 Hz? I am well aware of how bad the motor rumble can be - one of my early tables was idler driven directly from the motor shaft...

[@bearded_wolverine3503]

I tried belt drive but ultimately settled on my near mint sl1200mk2. It's a 35 year old deck that runs like a top and is quite easy to maintain

[@AudioAdvice]

Wow awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[@harrisonlainhart8754]

I personally prefer belt drive after listening to both but I've heard some amazing direct drive tables and would definitely reconsider when it's time to upgrade. It seems they keep getting better and better!

[@AudioAdvice]

Fair enough!

[@donwest5387]

I have a Pro-ject. After having to go on-line for a replacement belt, I give mine a little spin when starting up.

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing!

[@thelonestranger777]

How often are you supposed to replace the belt? I haven't used mine in nearly 2 years.

[@AudioAdvice]

It might be time. Check with the manufacturer of your turntable. It may be listed on their site. Otherwise, chat with our team at audioadvice.com for more help!

[@brickson98m]

That comment about CD’s was stupid. As long as the sample rate is adequate, it’s digital. It either reads or it doesn’t. On or off. There is no in between. You can have parts that don’t read correctly, and it skips over them, but the pitch will always be exactly as recorded so long as the sample rate is above the highest range of human hearing. Which, on any professionally pressed CD, it is. The only reason to use vinyl is the charm to it, and nostalgia. That’s it. No other reason. It doesn’t sound better than something on a CD. It doesn’t sound better than an audio file on a phone or computer that uses a quality DAC. The only thing it may sound better than is a streaming service that’s streaming at a lower bitrate.

[@leonshaw6694]

Nicely done

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for the visit

[@taylorrasmus1905]

Great breakdown!

[@AudioAdvice]

Appreciate it!

[@jlim414]

Very insightful!

[@AudioAdvice]

Glad you think so!

[@Audiomainia2310]

If you were referring to direct drive of years past, you might have a point / but with brushless, quartz locked direct drive motors, heavy dampened platters the consistency of top level direct drive far supersedes belt drive, and no worries about replacing a belt. I disagree completely.

[@AudioAdvice]

Fair enough. Thanks for sharing

[@chrisgargiulo304]

Great video!

[@AudioAdvice]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@pinkypoohable]

Direct drive for me. Easy and fuss free. Sounds good, quiet and minimal distortion. I think it’s high time to remove the notion that direct drive turn tables are only good for DJs because it’s not. Modern direct drive turntables from Technics and Audio Technica can be a great audiophile tool for records.

[@AudioAdvice]

Fair enough! Thanks for sharing!

[@kingofuseddurablecars.ls6040]

Direct Drive is the best. Technics is the GOAT TT

[@AudioAdvice]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ehlersjim12]

The belt itself adds wow and flutter. Direct drive does not suffer from this.

[@vinniemorciglio4632]

Belt drives can adjust the speed.....in Old School days.

[@AudioAdvice]

Yes, in the old school days. Some of the current external power supplies have potentiometers to fine tune the speed on belt drive but nothing like the sliders currently found on a lot of direct drive.

[@vinniemorciglio4632]

So, you're totally trashing the Technics tables you sell......

[@AudioAdvice]

It was directed at the entry level dd tables out there.