A quality microfiber cutting pad has a significant edge in cutting power than ANY foam pad. Microfiber pads do not work well on the 3401. On the flip side, they work fantastic on a free spinning DA. Especially a powerful one like the GG or HF. With the new pad(microfiber) and abrasive technology, the gap has been heavily closed between the free spindle DA's and the 3401. FWIW, on a flat panel, a 21mm will blow away the 3401 as far as speed of defect removal. Heck, even a 15mm.
Foam vs. foam, the 3401 will correct faster. Put a MF cutting pad on a free spinning 8mm DA like the GG and it's a different story.
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I've even found the 7424xp - all things being equal - cut faster, with a certain technique, and specific style of abrasives. I always think back to cars I did with really stubborn paint. I would start my job with the 3401, but ultimately return to the 7424xp - mostly due to the higher rotational edge speeds it could achieve. I found this necessary to cut the paint in a timely manner. Where the Flex would require two sets of passes, the 7424xp would only require one. Even more dense pads on the 3401 would struggle even more (as they did on the PC).
A rarely mentioned benefit of the forced rotation is it's consistency of cut, while using diminishing abrasives. I never feel I get as good a results from my Menzerna polishes using random orbitals than I did when I used them with the 3401, or the PE14 (when I had them). The thick lubricant felt like it wanted to restrict the spin of the random orbital, where the 3401 just blasts through. The Meguiar's products I use with the random orbitals have a thinner consistency, and more glide across the surface. These types of liquids, with their non diminishing abrasives work great with any kind of rotational inconsistencies one might encounter while operating the orbital tool.
With diminishing abrasive polishes, I always felt that when/if the pad slowed down at all, the abrasives were worked out of sync. Probably all in my head, but since the SMAT abrasives arrived, and seemed to develop in step with the growing popularity of the random orbital, these new abrasives have really been able to maximize the efficiency of these tools.
Totally agree about the microfiber pads too. They are capable of some serious correction. Look at the Meguiar's D300/DMC5... You don't even have to max that system out speed wise to get the intended results. Speed 4 on most tools. The guys at Rupes recommend speeds 3-4 when using their microfiber system too.
Probably the biggest determining factor is ultimately the guy behind the tools, and the myriad of variables he brings, like choice of polish, pad, skill, experience, and technique.
When I get together with my local detailer friends, it's clear that we all have our own roads to the same destination. We have some of the major tools between all of us, the 7424, and 7424xp, the 3401, Duetto, Legacy 21, and the Makita 9227c. The three of us have our own techniques, styles and experience levels. What we've concluded is that we all enjoy the option of having as many types of these tools available to us.
