The phrase "a basic difference in" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to highlight a fundamental distinction between two or more subjects or concepts.
Example: "There is a basic difference in the way these two theories approach the concept of time."
Alternatives: "a fundamental distinction in" or "a key difference in".
On an atomic level, these macroscopic distinctions arise from a basic difference in the nature of the atomic motion.
To be sure, business leaders argue that there is a basic difference in the tendency of the two parties.
Behind the dispute is a basic difference in opinion about how widespread a problem fatigue is for commercial aviation.
But to Mr. Romney there was no doubt the phrase revealed a basic difference in their philosophies: rugged individualism vs. mutual dependence.
The answer is inevitably complex, but Louvish detects, in the Tramp's very first outings, when he is little more than an anarchic presence, a basic difference in his performances from those of his peers.
Whatever the difference in sources (and both men have spent their careers successfully protecting them), the work of Mr. Hersh and Mr. Woodward shows a basic difference in perspective.
A basic difference between HD pathology in human and tgHD51 rats is in the rate of NDP progression that originates primarily from slow neuronal degeneration consequently resulting in lesser extent of concomitant reactive gliosis in the brain of tgHD51 rats.
With one day left in the campaign, a basic difference between the two parties is in depressing evidence: Democrats seek to expand the franchise, while Republicans seek to restrict it.
The basic difference in a "blueline machine" from a "large format copy machine" is that blueline machines will only make a copy of a reproducible document, such as vellum (sometimes known a "trans-bond" or any material that will allow light to pass through it).
