Bill Evans | Riverside Recordings

At the age of 18, Kevin Gray was the youngest mastering engineer in the United States when he began cutting records at Artisan Sound Recorders in 1972. Over his forty-year career, Kevin has mastered the music from all major record labels, in all genres. He has over a hundred Grammy-winning recordings to his credit. In 2010 Kevin opened his own mastering facility, Cohearent Audio.

RTI is a renowned pressing plant for vinyl records located in California. 12″ records have been manufactured there since 1974. RTI has a reputation for very good manufacturing technique as well as quality control. Audiophile LPs from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, for example, are pressed there. They also produce Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's One-Step Ultradisc releases and Impex Records' 1step series.

The slower a record spins, the more it's sound quality is affected. In order to deliver the best possible sound, the record must spin faster (45 RPM). However, when a record spins faster, the amount of information it can hold is reduced. The desire to improve sound quality, while ensuring adequate playtime, is a problem that still persists today. Obviously, the "convenience" drawback isn't an issue when you're willing to pay more for two 12-inch records instead of just one.