Belt drive or direct drive,what's the difference?

Keith H

Active Member
Hey everyone,i just bought a used but in pristine condition Nakamichi CR-3A cassette deck and it says it's belt driven,i would like to know what the difference between belt driven and direct drive is,does direct drive just mean that there's no belts involved,and which one is better belt driven or direct drive?Thanks for any help..Keith H.
 
Keith,
From my rather humble experience direct drive concerning most but not all cassette decks involves a direct shaft with a flywheel from the capstan motor on one side and then a belt from that flywheel to the other freewheeling capstan on the opposite side for consistant speed control. Play Rew. and FF from another motor are all belt driven. PIONEER came out with computer controlled line of direct drive cassette decks in the 80's but since I have not had the opportunity to crack open one of the CT-9R's I am not sure of its configuration. Also not to up on the Nak decks if they ever had true direct drive like some Reel 2 Reels incorporate. Someone else could chime in here and probably educate you better than myself.
 
Most cassette decks have one, two or even three motors in them. (The more the merrier.) Nearly all in earlier years had a large flywheel driven by a motor and a belt for the capstan. In later years, companies started using servo-driven motors in which the motor shaft was the actual capstan. As far as stability, give me a belt-driven anything (tape-deck, VCR or Turntable) over a direct-drive unit. It isolates vibration from the motor and IMHO is more stable due to the inertia of the flywheel. (BTW: The other motors were used for the take up reel and the reverse take up reel.)
 
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