Direct Drive vs. Idler Drive vs. Belt drive

Apologies for going somewhat OT.

@ atmasphere:

A good platter pad will simultaneously damp the platter and silence the vibration in the LP; this has to be done with a platter pad that has the same hardness (durometer) as the vinyl. In that way energy from the LP is absorbed and not reflected back the the LP.

I must confess that I don’t really get this, as I don’t see how a mat can simultaneously be an effective and non-reflective absorber of energy and have the same hardness as the vinyl record.

Is there some science available on this subject that I can read? If so, links would be much appreciated.

I'll try again, since I'd be very interested to find out about this.

@ atmasphere:

A good platter pad will simultaneously damp the platter and silence the vibration in the LP; this has to be done with a platter pad that has the same hardness (durometer) as the vinyl. In that way energy from the LP is absorbed and not reflected back the the LP.

I must confess that I don’t really get this, as I don’t see how a mat can simultaneously be an effective and non-reflective absorber of energy and have the same hardness as the vinyl record.

Is there some science available on this subject that I can read? If so, links would be much appreciated.

I did respond to this, in my post just prior to this.

Apologies, somehow I managed to miss it. Now remedied.

I took your original post to mean a mat with the same universal durometer as vinyl, which was why I wondered. Thanks for clearing it up for me.