Direct Drive turntables

Because good direct drives are very expensive to manufacture and cheap one do not sound good. I sold both in the golden age of turntable production and the belts were better. I am at a loss to understand the current fad for DJ tables, when their far superior ancestors of 30 years ago were not that good. Direct drive has the motor connected directly to the platter instead of isolated from it and has other defects that are hard to overcome. I don't really feel like a long technical discussion, just think of it as Darwinism in action.

i beleive that direct drive is far from a fad. look at the Teres and others. they are very expensive (and state of the art?) but we might see the technology come down in price over time. I am surprised to see the comment that linear tracking arms are considered passe as well. I think the rim drive is a highly viable option. if you are looking for a good option within a "reasonable" price range, a belt drive offers many options.

the Goldmund studio was a direct drive and one great sounding tt.

I've had many belt and direct drive units and the sound differences have all over the lot. Present belt is VPI Aries I, also running Denon 47F, a direct drive. While the Aries does beat the Denon, the diference is close and could be the cartridge or SDS on the Aries. I also run a Sony x800, direct drive, linear arm with a Grace Ruby. It often sounds as good as the Aries. I have listened to the VPI rim drive and found it transmits vibrations to the table and these apparently degrade the sound. Could be a defective unit or set up error. Overall, belts are the best value, at least for now.