Tales Of The Deadwax #5: Record Technology Inc. - RTI (XXXXX.X(X)) 

The RTI pressings I own have a very low noise floor.. Excellent.

Beautiful Beautiful! RTI made sure they would be the best for years to come when they Purchased Sheffield Labs presses and all that went with it. As part of the deal many of the people from Sheffield were brought over to RTI to make sure they could work the Presses and to carry on the tradition of outstanding work at Sheffield. Brilliant move by RTI IMHO.

Dear Paul! Another great TOTD and thank you for all these good information for all of us again!!! Superb!

I am loving all of this series mate. So interesting!! Thank you for putting in the legwork.

Thanks again, Paul. If I know it is from RTI or QRP, I am happy. Love this series.

Wow. Thank you so much Paul. I'm really enjoying these videos. So much great information.

Very informative video series. I love these videos. RTI is in fact a great pressing plant. Really enjoy the quality of MOFI releases. Keep the good vids coming sir!

Total antitheses to United: RTI. Always a joy to find something is pressed there. And also on the contrary to United, it's fairly common to be able to tell from the outside that it's an RTI pressing, the loose bag a usual indicator. Hardly ever an issue with their product. I have found however that the frosted inner sleeves from RTI pressings that are 5-6 old now have some leeching on the records. It usually clears up even with a dry record brush cleaning, but it is disappointing and I'll have to start replacing those sleeves.

another great lesson.

It is almost nuts that my purchasing decisions have been swayed based on the pressing plants - and when I see RTI and QRP, that does sway me. I also prefer those polybags over the Rice Paper hybrid Mofi sleeves - I also like the thinner Sleeve City bags because getting them in and out is a bit easier, especially if you have an insert or another sleeve in the record.

Funny. There used to be a record distributor based in Omaha called RTI (Records & Tapes Incorporated). They closed down some time in the 90s. Used to own a record store chain here called Homer's which used to have 18 stores. They have one now.

Hi Paul, Hearing that the biggies like MoFi and Music Matters are using RTI for their production says a whole lot. I was just going to ask you about Analogue Productions and Quality Records but you beat me to the punch. I did not know that AP was going through RTI at all. I bought two of their albums that were released in the last two years. I saw the Quality Records hype on the front cover. > Those RTI Test Pressings are awesome. > Thanks to you I got to experience what a Blue Note 75th 45rpm pressing sounds like. I am going to check out the matrix so I can tell where this one was pressed. Outstanding info Paul. I love this series. I am looking forward to TOTD #6~ Rob/Boston

Great info again, Paul. The series is fun to follow. Surprisingly I don't think I have any RTI pressing in the collection. All the best. /Paul

Another great video. RTI is definitely my favorite of the US plants, and is one of the top worldwide. I'm not sure about Friday Music. I have two albums pressed by them and both had Rhino on them. I know that RTI once pressed Rhino's albums, but I don't think that they have for a number of years.

I just bought Rickie Lee Jones debut, remastered by Gray and Hoffman on RTI. Stunning. Probably the best sounding record I own.

Great !!! Now I understand why my 2014 MONO reissues of Harry Nilsson's albums ("Pandemonium Shadow Show" / "Aerial Ballet ") are so perfect ! Also my 2003 Pink Floyd "The Dark Side Of The Moon" 30th remastered edition. Why ? Pressed at R.T.I. Ha ha ! That's great to know! Thank you again for the lesson. :)

Great video again . Bummed that you might get a United pressing on that Hirace Silver, how is the sound on that by the way ?

Another FYI: the old pink tinted inners that RTI used to use can scratch records. The frosted clear inners they use now are better, but you need to be careful removing the record from inner...the little lip at the opening can scratch the LP.

Great break down Paul I always wanted to know about how to tell what's pressed at RTI and deadwax indicators

I have some Classic Records pressings that I'll have to check the dead wax to see if they were pressed at RTI. Most of my Analogue Productions records were pressed at Quality. I believe i only have two AP records that were pressed at RTI. All the RTI pressed records i own are defect free. If im not mistaken the Tone Poets are being pressed at RTI. Great in depth video look at RTI.

FYI Erika uses a similar numbering scheme so it's easy to get the two mixed up sometimes. They tend to use different inners though and most labels using either plant are usually fairly up front about it when asked.

Hey Paul great video! Just curious how certain are we about the deadwax number in parenthesis ? I've seen this brought up in a couple of videos now. I find it interesting that it would be basically a one step process if it was (2). I've seen limited runs by small bands with the (2). I also have a Mingus One Step and it's got a (1). I wonder if they changed that for those pressings at the request of MOFI. Interesting.

I am starting my Music Matters Blue Note collection; should I purchase the 45 rpm or the 33 1/3 rpm version of the album? Which one sounds better? Thank you for your great work on RU-vid.

Great video and great series. I have a lot of respect for your "outlook" and "Style" and "knowledge" as a collector/ audiophile(stereophile). Many 'collectors' are not necessarily 'stereophiles', and vice versa. I happen to take collecting and collecting knowledge seriously, and I take high-end audio seriously as well. Anyway, I have a lot of experience with RTI; I know Don and Reid McKinnis well. I'm located in North Los Angeles and RTI is of course in North L.A. (Camarillo, Ca). I know the plant like the back of my hand and I agree with you in regards to RTI being thee top in North America. I'm actually familiar wth everyone over at Rainbo too (friends with the President of Rainbo) That's a great plant as well... Not like RTI at all, but then again they have a different focus than RTI does... Different goals so to speak. I've sat in the Mastering lab at RTI many times where all the great MoFi pressings, like Steely Dans "Aja" was mastered and cut... Awesome place.

Great episode Paul. It's nice to hear about a pressing plant that takes pride in being excellent at pressing records. great to see. I have the new Kills album but haven't cracked it open yet. I'll look for the RTI info in the deadwax. I was stunned to see an audiophile (?) version of Filth. I've got an original version, plus a counterfeit version )and a CD version) and I'm surprised at someone re-doing an album of that style of music. As to the Clear bags, is it anecdotal that they do not leech into the vinyl, or is there something specific about those bags that prevents that problem from happening? Cheers! Tom EDIT TO ADD: I just read your reply to Rob about the bags!

I believe I only have one RTI pressing which is a miles davis album and it sounds fantastic I must say. But RTI and many high end pressing's are also high in price so I dont have many. What do you think of the black lion records jazz re issue series? I believe they are pressed in germany but not positive.

My Adele 25 has this: 25343.1(3) on side A 25343.4(3) on side B. can you help me decipher? I guess this is pressed by RTI and mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling.

Hi Paul, I just wanted to tell you that I sent you a short PM. Talk soon~ Rob/Boston

The only Mobile Fidelity I have is the Pink Floyd you sent me. And for that I can't thank you enough. :-) And, wow! The Swans! 😊

Is there any meaning to the dots that seem to appear at the end of the matrix info? They are in all of the RTI pressings I own.

I lucked on the fabulous Prince movie vhs " Under the Cherry Moon" via the Salvation Army and Sheila E 7" 45 "Hold me" with the b-side the world is high via the goodwill over the weekend.....I really recommend that you check out Prince movie " Under the Cherry Moon" from 1986 and would like to know your thoughts......

RTI is excellent. In the first dozen years that I did CDs, I went through RTI to have them made. I was always hearing from them how the vinyl was doing. I finnaly had to go somewhere else as they went 100% vinyl.

A positive spin to balance things out. Interesting about to identify the rti from the deadwax. The lady doing the interview was super annoying. Wait, I just spent $25 on a bag of mofi sleeves. I'm putting them on my most valuable records. You are saying leeching might occur!?

Been watching your videos for a month or so now, never saw you being a SWANS guy if you are. Regardless a great vid!

The Van Halen (Dave) remasters are from RTI, EXCELLENT records! I hope Eddie could stop being a twat and allow the Sammy era to be reissued and done at RTI as well.

Can I ask your opinion on something you mention here? I was trading back some old records for trade value at Amoeba Records in San Francisco on Friday, and here's what their buyer told me "If you want me to buy or take your records next time, don't store them in plastic or plastic lined inner bags, use paper." (commenting when viewing my Mofi inner sleeve. I asked Why and he replied "They leave a film on your records and that film can damage your needle." - Have you heard of this?

Greetings. 1) It would be great if everyone could chime in on which Blue Note 75th Anniversary LP's they have which feature the RTI matrix in the run-off/dead wax... If we work together we can suss-out these titles. I'm way more inclined to spend $20 on an RTI pressing, especially on the harder to get/more expensive BN titles. For instance, side A of my 75th Anniv copy of "The Real McCoy" features this matrix nomenclature: B0020428-01 A GI - then some strange lines with a sideways S inside, and a J inside a circle - its also stamped "MASTERED BY CAPITAL" - One down, 100 to go ;) 2) It would also be great to do some comparisons of "Connoisseur Series" pressings vs RTI pressed 75th Anniv pressings. Oftentimes one can find these connoisseur series BN titles for $20. It must be safe to presume these were cut from master tapes. 3) as a follow up to your last Music Matters jazz comments, Ron Rambach told me that some of the BN master tapes aren't sounding good any longer. Between the time he cut the 45 of "Song For My Father", and a recent attempt at the tapes for a 33rpm issue, the tape has "died"... All the more reason to get cracking on the best strategy for picking up the best sounding titles sooner than later... Thanks-David