Direct drive vs belt vs rim vs idler arm


Is one TT type inherently better than another? I see the rim drive VPI praised in the forum as well as the old idler arm. I've only experienced a direct drive Denon and a belt driven VPI Classic.
rockyboy
Halcro, I am interested in your response re "platter inertia", which is to say, are you using an aftermarket platter mat that adds significant mass?

Would be interesting to look at the audio output waveform, to see whether those notches in the peaks are also present there. One could just put a 'scope on the output of the phono stage. 1000Hz is a good frequency to look at.

Now that we are adding a touch of real data to the discussion, things become more interesting and cordial. Thanks, Henry et al.
Halcro,

Thanks a lot! I was actually waiting to respond until I had some time to really study your results so I wouldn't ask any stupid questions, but all I have done so far was to take a quick look. So, a stupid question.

Is the app capable of outputting frequency versus time data instead of a graph? It might be interesting to see changes over very small units of time. When I requested the test, I thought it might be useful in seeing micro speed changes, but I'm not sure if that will be possible. What do you think?

the DD table seems to like a little more load perhaps

Does your DD table have an oil filled bearing well? If it actually does like a little more load on it, it might be possible to improve its speed stability by using a higher viscosity oil. This is getting interesting!
Have any of you thought it ironic that the speed checking disc and software you are using to evaluate stylus drag and its impact on speed stability is supplied by a company that sells rubber belt drive turntables. Creepy eh.
Richard/Lew,
I have added no mass to either the Victor or the Raven turntables.
In fact....I am playing the TT-101 WITHOUT the standard rubber mat. A 1mm thick sheet of pigskin being the only separation between vinyl and aluminium platter.
With the Raven...I am playing the records sitting directly on the copper platter top-plate.

Ketchup,
it might be possible to improve its speed stability by using a higher viscosity oil.
Have you seen my video of the TT-101 with the three tonearms going up and down monitored with the Timeline?
I have seen no visual evidence of any other turntable equalling this degree of accuracy and speed stability?
Did you note the 3150 Hz frequency on the Feickert sine-wave test with 2 tonearms on the platter?
How much improvement do you visualise?
Halcro

The reason for my question was that it is popular to add significant inertia via metal aftermarket mats. The thought is that this can screw with the servo, which if excessive, it should. I was curious, given the tight control, spot on frequency, if any significant change to the platters inertia had been made.
Great result.