Why do you want direct drive ?
Belt drive is much better.
OK, my record player is a Technics SL-1410. That is the home version of the famous SL-1210 DJ table. It's a very good quality table. It has en Empire cartridge. The Empire cartridge is really special. It has the advantages of a moving coil pick-up but can be connected to a normal moving magnet input. The cartridge was DLF 450,- back when it was bought.
I got the player compete for free from a friend. Only thing I had to do was make some MP3's from a number of his records.
Now....of course that's a DD table.
BUT.....if now I would have to buy a new player, it would be something like the Pro-ject players:
http://www.project-audio.com/main.php?info=turntables&cat=turntables&lang=enAudiophiles may look down at them, but even if you get the cheapest one, they will be MILES MILES better than somethine like Sony, Akai or all the rubbish USB players you see around these days.
So...if you want the best sound for your buck, that's a nice brand. The "trick" is that they are built in the Czech republic. So production costs are relatively low. That the Czech can build very good quality products is proven by my Skoda that I drive every day. OK, it's a Volkswagen Golf with a different look, but it's still built there and they have BETTER statistics then Volkswagen itself
Now, if you are not scared of buying a used deck, you could have a look at Thorens and Rega. Excellent brands but they may need some fixing up of course....
