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My personal experience with Direct Drive versus Belt Drive

This is my personal , yet limited experience, with a DD versus Belt Drive. This A/B took place in the same system. with literally the same tonearm. I am choosing not to mention brands at this point. I feel by keeping the brand out of the discussion, anyone who contributes to the the thread (myself included), can be a bit more forthcoming. I am not big on audiophile jargon, so I will keep this short and sweet. I started with DD, in a system which I was very familiar with. The room of course, was different. The DD struck me as near perfect. I could hear the starting and stopping on a dime, and the near perfect timing that many have associated with the DD.  It didn't take long at all for me to conclude this was not my cup of tea. It satisfied my brain, but didn't move my heart. Maybe I was used to the imperfect sound of belt drives, and it was indeed that imperfection, that made for an emotional experience. Who knows? (-: Fast forward to the belt drive.... Again, same actual arm. It sounded more analog to me. Decay was much more easy to hear, along with subtle spatial cues. Was it the less than perfect timing, that was allowing me to now hear these things I could not with the DD?  I have no clue! What I was sure about was the emotion of the music had returned.
fjn04

Showing 4 responses by pbnaudio

pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,610 posts
 
I make both - Belt Drives and Direct Drives and most definitely prefer Direct Drive - it reproduce music with an energy and pace that no belt drive have ever done in my system.   A simple test to do for all of you whom have belt drives that can accept more than one belt - VPI with the separate drive stations for an example - add 2 - 3 - 4 belts and the speed consistency increase along with the focus and energy / pace of the music.  DD have a vastly advantage over BD in speed consistency - any timeline test will confirm this and IMO speed stability is the number one job of a TT - yes everything else matters Platters / Mats / Clamps / Tonearm / Cartridge - the last three being variables on any table.  Listen to a well plinthed refurbished DD turntable be it a Technics or a Denon Vintage drive system and all this becomes clear 🎶 and yes I do make this variant along with the Belted ones 



Good Listening

Peter 


pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,610 posts
 
As far as how important speed stability is for a turntable please consider this.  I have done a lot of experimenting with belt drives using mostly parts form VPI but others too.  When adding more belts to a VPI drive, on the two motor drive station with the flywheel its possible to have a total of 4 a noticeable improvement is sound quality is obtained with 4 belts as opposed to just one, presumably because of less belt creep. Also when adding the SDS speed control which basically is a frequency converter supplying a very steady sine wave to the motor(s) a very noticeable improvement is sound quality is also obtained.  

A properly restored DD table from 70 - 80s is incredibly speed accurate any timeline test - or Roadrunner Tachometer test easily shows this and to me presents the music with a pace and energy that I have not heard from any belt drive.

Analogluvr  sent you a message explaining how to send a message on this forum.

Good Listening


Peter
 
pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,610 posts
 
Added a new picture to the Denon DN 308 rebuild system - they are coming along 

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/6431#&gid=1&pid=8

Good Listening


Peter
pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,610 posts
 
Tim, 

Yes it is a open plinth made from 1.125" hardwood, sandwiched between 2 ea 1" pieces of aluminum makes for a quite sturdy plinth. The electronics will be placed inside.  Because of the size of the DN308 this was the best solution.

As we progress more pictures will be posted.

Goof listening


Peter
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