I think that's up to the machines and the user. I have the Diamond Deluxe and it has auto tension and thread distribution and I never have to adjust the tension no matter what I'm doing. I have the capabilities but glad that I don't have to worry about that now. My machine has settings for the different fabrics as well so like this weekend when I was sewing heavy layers of canvas I told the machine what I was sewing and made sure I had the right needle (jean needle) and had no problems with it sewing. The only time I had a problem it was before I knew how much using the right setting made such a big difference. I'm so glad that I have it.