The Langer Audio No.9 Direct Drive turntable is made in Germany and uses its propriety direct drive system, which is also offered as an OEM.
Drive Unit
Of course, we use our new direct drive technology in our turntable. Absolutely low noise, top wow and flutter values and adequate time for speed stabilization, are just a few advantages of the Langer-direct-drive. The unique analog drive controller sends an almost flat and very low control voltage to the motor. The motor operates mainly as a high precision platter bearing with a little energy compensation for friction losses.
Platter
The weight of the platter is almost 3kg. The mass is optimized for best results in combination with our motor and controller technology. The solid rubber mat also adds weight and eliminates platter resonances. In addition, it guarantees the best coupling of the record to the platter.
Operation Terminal
Operating the Langer No. 9 is extremely simple. There is a rotary switch for speed selection. By selecting the platter speed, also the motor is switched on. Supported platter speeds are 33, 45 and 78 RPM.
The Chassis Design
The design of the Langer No.9 allows an integration of almost every tonearm with a length from 9” to 12”. Tonearm base and motor unit are placed on a massive aluminum plate. This plate is settled into an MDF-Block with fine veneer surface. The base of the plinth is a 12mm aluminum plate. The complete plinth design is rock solid and has over 20kg mass. There are 4 big aluminum stands, which can be individually adjusted in height.
Tonearm Integration
It is very easy to integrate different tonearms. There are special designed adaptor plates available. So, it is possible to integrate almost every tonearm with a length from 9” to 12”. The audio cables are guided through a big hole in the bottom plate of the plinth.
Motor
The motor design is brushless. It used Hall sensors and an integrated electronic board for commuting the motor coils. This is a must for a smooth motor movement and for elimination of distortion by usual brushes. The motor coils are air core types. So, there is no magnetic rest point or hysteresis loss. Speed feedback comes from an optical sensor combined with an encoder.
Motor Bearing
As the motor bearing is also the platter bearing, we spent special attention on its design. The radial force is carried by a precision sinter metal bearing. For the axial forces, we used a bearing bottom made of polyamide. This design guarantees very low movement noise and high precision bearing gap, combined with long life.
Rotor
The rotor unit is also a sub platter. So, it is easy to combine with all kind of platter designs. The encoder marks for speed feedback are directly integrated in the rotor design, for minimum tolerances and maximum accuracy.
Speed Control
The speed control circuit is a special design, dedicated to the “Langer” motor. This circuit works completely analog. That means we compare an analog signal for speed feedback with an analog speed reference. Therefore, the output signal to the motor is also analog. In combination with a correctly designed platter, the signal to the motor is a simple flat line. During playback, the motor acts just as a precision bearing plus a little energy for the friction losses. Only during start mode or at higher break forces, it increases the drive current accordingly to the needed level. The result is a comfortable settling time for platter speed and absolutely low wow and flutter values during your listening audience.