Real Traps is owned by Ethan Winer. He is a musician and an acoustical engineer of over 30 years. He is knowledgeable and builds a product that works to the specifications he advertises. He would also admit, in acoustics, there is no "magic bullet". His traps can solve some of the more prominent issues in the room, but they are not the end all solution to all issues--not even close--and Ethan would readily agree with that. However, we recommend Ethan's products quite often in our designs--for the very fact that --they work! But most designs, even when all pre-fabricated (this is done at the client's request), have never been solely the trap product. There are usually several other or more devices used.
I respect Ethan so much that I asked him to write our last monthly column on acoustics. If you go to our resource page
(the main links page here) you can see where his article is published on "Bass Traps, Not Just for Fisherman". It's a worthwhile article to read.
So I don't think the question "Real Traps vs Rives" is quite right. We work with them, as well as RPG, Quest, and several other acoustical treatment manufacturers. We are even designing new devices that they may someday carry (as we do not ever intend on being an acoustical treatment manufacturing company). The biggest difference as I see it, is that we are independent of the manufacturer. All we sell are designs, without any incentive to sell a particular product or device. Quite often we will use several manufacturers, or sometimes in new construction, there will be none--as everything will be custom built on site. Our goal is to deliver the best design within the clients constraints (namely: budget, space, and aesthetics).