Record Technology Incorporated

Profile:

American record plating and pressing plant established in 1974. From 1995 to 2010 RTI operated the t venture disc cutting studio AcousTech Mastering at the same location.

It is sometimes listed as "RTI Record Technology Inc." on older test pressings and just "RTI" or "Record Technology Inc" in the regular print of some releases.

Matrix number scheme used for the processing:
Side A: xxxxx (2) or (3)
Side B: xxxxx (2) or (3)

Later adjusted to include the side identifiers (but not always):
Side A: xxxxx.1 (1) or (2) or (3)
Side B: xxxxx.2 (1) or (2) or (3)

Only the sequential numbers should be added for the role Mastered At. See Directions In Music for an example.
Note: a new sequential number counting started in September 1995.

(1), (2) and (3) indicate the matrix process used:
The 3-step process means that the master lacquer disc is used to make negative fathers, positive mothers, and finally stampers.
The 2-step means that the master lacquer disc is used to make a negative father, a mother and then convert the father into a stamper. This is used for small runs and in the case that extra stampers a required, the mother is used to produce those stampers.
The newer 1-step process (often found on MOFI UltraDisc One-Step records) means that the master lacquer disc is used to make a negative convert which is used to produce directly the vinyl (w/o using father, mother and stamper). The removal of two steps in plating process improves the sound quality.

A record plated by RTI doesn't necessarily mean the plant also pressed it, so please only use the Mastered At role in LCCN field when the above scheme appears.
Use Pressed By only when it's credited on release and/or the information is taken from a reliable source. HQ-180 is an RTI trademark; hype stickers with HQ-180 denote an RTI pressing.

To distinguish RTI pressings from Rainbo pressings (both having a "muffin top", measuring 31.7mm inner ring, and a 70mm outer ring): RTI pressings tend to have light concentric rings on the labels and the muffin top is more pronounced (and Rainbo often has an additional 11mm inner ring).

They are known to have pressed for most Concord Jazz releases in the 80's.

Until 1983, RTI marked their stampers using a tally-mark system, featuring an etched "+" (plus or cross sign) with each quadrant sequentially filled in with a dot or scribble, beginning at the top left: the plus sign by itself (+) is the first stamper; the second stamper has the first top left quadrant filled; all four quadrants filled (⁜) is for the 5th stamper; a second, empty (⁜+) plus/cross stands for the 6th stamper; two filled crosses (⁜⁜) stand for the 10th stamper, etc. See Images.
In the cases of additional plus/cross signs, the records were also pressed by RTI.

Please note: the cross-and-dot tally-mark system is NOT unique to plates made at RTI. It can help to confirm an identification ONLY when known RTI markings are present. Cross-and-dots marks also appear on some Sheffield Lab Matrix plates and it is possible that they were used at other plating facilities as well.

They do NOT press 7" or 10" records, only 12."

Sublabels:

AcousTech Mastering

Info:

Record Technology, Inc.
486 Dawson Dr.
Camarillo, CA 93012-8090
USA

Manufacturer

Record Technology Incorporated 486 Dawson Dr. Camarillo, CA 93012-8090 USA https://discogs.sitiobypass.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="442c2128282b043621272b36203021272c6a272b29">[email protected]

Manufacturer EU

https://discogs.sitiobypass.com/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9df5f8f1f1f2ddeff8fef2eff9e9f8fef5b3fef2f0">[email protected]

Links:

recordtech.com

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Reviews

  • Tommyboy65's avatar
    Tommyboy65
    Edited 23 days ago
    High quality 180 gram vinyl my ass!! The only thing that separates this outfit from GZ, is that RTI uses better vinyl. That’s not saying much. RTI’s quality control is awful. I can’t tell you how many Mofi titles that I purchased that were pressed by them that were VG+ out of the package because of marks and hairlines. Additionally, their inner sleeves suck. I’m glad there are better pressings plants that are starting to open. Perhaps, they’ll leave RTI in the dustbin of history where they belong.
    • patientot's avatar
      patientot
      Edited 6 months ago
      Formerly one of the best plants around but just like everywhere they are going through some rough patches in the last year or two. Not that they didn't before mind you, but my defect rate from this plant has shot way up recently.

      Problems like this are going to drive customers like me away from vinyl because we are sick of the defective crap. No excuse for $40+ records and pricey multi-LP to be warped, have non-fill, one side off-center, weird scratches out of the package, etc.

      • Nick8712's avatar
        Nick8712
        Edited 2 months ago
        RTI quality is horrible now. Noisy pressings. A LOT of whooshing sounds. Same thing happened to Pallas. Shame...
        • sovlsacrifice's avatar
          sovlsacrifice
          Always found them insanely overrated, even dating back to their late 2000s pressings. I've had quieter stuff from even Rainbo, Optimal and ofc Quality Records. These guys have never managed to make a perfect pressing in my whole collection, there's always the usual MASSIVE pop or tick that manages to ruin their supposedly " quality" records. And yeah, not to mention other issues like scuffing, wooshing, clicks, pops, non-fill.
          • chinagates's avatar
            chinagates
            Where do I start? Scuffs, weird marks, messed up labels, and those horrible oily inner sleeves. They insist on using some weird inners that you can hear rubbing against the record, and if you look close, have odd oil marks on the inside. WTF?? Just put them in lined paper sleeves. QRP, Pallas, and Optimal are leagues ahead of RTI.
            • skjmata2's avatar
              skjmata2
              What went wrong at RTI? It seems that half of my recent purchases of RTI pressings are defective. This includes Bill Evans Riverside Recordings (there have been so many defects with this release, that February 8 will be two months that I've been waiting for mine to be replaced). Just before that, it took three copies of Joe / For Django (Blue Note Tone Poet) before I received one that was not scratched. I also recently had to return copies of Otis Spann / Otis Span Is The Blues, Kenny Burrell / self-titled, and Grant Greene / The Latin Bit for replacements. Either RTI needs to substantially upgrade its QC or labels need to stop associating with them.
              • JazzLoser's avatar
                JazzLoser
                I for one have not had anything but a great experience with these guys from the Blue Note Tone Poet series
                • bmeagan's avatar
                  bmeagan
                  Just bought Michigan by Sufjan Stevens "3 times" and had to send each copy back. Absolutely TERRIBLE pressing. Dirty, smudged, at times scratched. Pop, crackle, hiss, click. Really terrible quality control form this pressing plant.
                  • speed808's avatar
                    speed808
                    What is the point of having the best mastering and cut if you can't press a clean and flat record? You guys need to get it together or take a break. GZ vinyl's quality control is now better than yours and this is no exaggeration.
                    • MrShocktime's avatar
                      MrShocktime
                      Never ending dish warps coming from RTI these days (past few years, really). Where did the quality control go?