F.A.Q.

Who?
Retired sound engineer who loves music from the 60's & early 70's.

What?
My aim is to make rare stuff publicly available again with the best possible sound quality.

How To Download?
Download guide: here

Donations?
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Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Cream - Wheels Of Fire (1968) {2013 SHM Edition} [CSG Decoded]


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pass: profstoned

96 comments:

  1. Well this looks sweet...first time though I've seen the "Too Many downloads, etc"...guess I'll try the work around listed...thanks mucho for this...one of the best ever

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  2. Sweet! Looking forward to this, plus the bonus tracks. Thanks, Professor.

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  3. working now...thanks for the link to the work around....

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  4. Thanks for this rip Profstoned. Much appreciated.

    dr blues

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  5. I love collecting these mini-lp shm discs, but I don't have this, vary nice surprise! Many thanks Prof Stoned!

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  6. Beautiful sound.Thank You so much.

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  7. Well, now this is a surprise ! Love the fact that it's from a flat master. A double dollop of Cream in one week .... fantastic ! By the way (since you have good ears), how does the 1992 DCC stand up to this version?
    Thanks again !

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  8. Too heavily EQ'd for my taste. The original mix may not be a sonic masterpiece and thats why the dcc tries to get rid of some of the muddiness, but this version sounds most 'correct' to me.

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  9. Kinda answering my own question: I just stared doing some A/Bing between this version and the DCC and it's like day & night. I guess Steve Hoffman was stuck with a really inferior source because the audio distortion of the DCC is now so noticeably when checking it against your version.
    The other strange thing I'm noticing with the DCC version is the overall high volume levels which for a Steve Hoffman remaster is a very odd thing since he normally goes the other way so one can really hear all of the fidelity at any volume it is played back at ... weird ?!

    Now imagine how truly amazing this album would have been if Cream didn't use (or get stuck with) Felix Pappalardi. Both Cream & Mountain albums are a mere shadows of themselves due to Felix's productions (in my opinion).

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  10. Tom Dowd deserves some of the blame as well.. they should have done the whole thing at ibc.

    The dcc also has many digitally truncated peaks. I've read most dcc masters suffer from that. Supposedly the mastertape was used. It has its fans, but its too overcooked for me.

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  11. Overcooked ... That is the correct word for it.
    I can't get over how clear your version is ... truly amazing ! I'll be listening to this over and over again this week .... you know, the way we used to listen to records when we first bought them ...hahaha.

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  12. Dare I get greedy ? ... Are you working on a 2013 Flat Transfer repair series ?

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  13. Not only master tape was used for DCC disc, Hoffman stole it, as usual. He returned tape copy back to archive. You have to take my word for it.

    - Eugene

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  14. Thanks for this, Very much appreciated.

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  15. Many thanks for this. I always thought this alubum sounded a bit 'off', now I know why. Your version is a revelation.

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  16. Fantastic as always Prof, many from Scotland thanks for all your work

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  17. Turnabout is fairplay ... I did find 2014 SHM CD "Goodbye" For 2 weeks.
    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_gvMJro21tkh5g8uADojTXB4NdJpI9Gd?usp=sharing

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  18. Hey everyone ... the link for "Goodbye " is now open for everyone....sorry for the restriction.

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  19. Man, how can we ever thank you for all the joy you're bringing to us for so many years now. This time also a special thanks to Noises From Apt 2A.

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  20. Great work, prof ... thank you for enhancing these tracks.

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  21. Prof, Your posting of "Wheels of Fire" has sent me down a "rabbit hole". The search for Flat Master Cd which were transferred correctly. Seth Foster seems to have a handle on the job at task with the 2013 / 2014 Cream catalogue, the 2013 Derek & The Dominos "Layla ..." as well as some of the James Brown Singles series. Richard Whittaker & Mick MeKenna also did fine jobs on the 2013 Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile on Main Street". So the question here is: What are other well executed Flat Master CDs out there ?

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  22. I have a flac rip of the Japanese SACD which has an SHM number - happy to send you a copy if it's of interest, although I don't know if it's also a straight transfer of the master.

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  23. How does this compare with your work on the Doctor Robert MFSL vinyl rip from 2012 ? Looking forward to giving it a blast, thanks Prof......

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  24. pg ...Thanks for the offer but I just found it on line ... also to anyone interested, there's a ton of SHM CD of DSD Flat Transfers over at Lossless Music Archives. Just verify the version you're checking out over at Discogs to make sure.

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  25. Many thanks for this one, Professor.

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  26. Eugene is correct...nothing since DCC has really been from original master...big surprise right? But this still sounds quite nice.

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  27. http://microdynamiks.blogspot.com/2015/08/chapter-2-steve-hoffman-tape-thief.html

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  28. Hey Prof, was your source a different source than used on the 2010 UIGY-9042 (SHM - SACD)

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  29. Back in the early days of CD mastering (late 80s / early 90s) labels like Mobile Fidelity & DCC seemed like a godsend simply because the major labels hardly ever gave credit to who was responsible for Cd mastering. Back in early days of CDs there really were some incredibly bad jobs done were basically the frequency floodgates were open on full which resulted in shrill sounding recordings. Since Mobile Fidelity already had a reputation of reissuing beautifully mastered vinyl there was total trust in their ability to understand the dynamics of CD mastering. DCC (which started as a reissue label of some Leon Russell, Ray Charles and compilations by The Zombies and the 2 Underground Radio discs) quickly adjusted the business strategy to copy Mobile Fidelity due to Hoffman's former job of CD mastering at MCA.
    Anyway most of us took DCC at face value because they copied the format of Mobile Fidelity but upped the packaging to include a non generic CD cover and booklet (which include photos of the original record label art and such) and since most of us were A/Bing original CD reissues to DCC remasters they did sound different and, as many of us thought, better.
    We also thought that these "better" remasters were sounding closer to the original vinyl masters and not rewriting audio history.

    I think many of us started having our "ears opened" when cats like Dr. Ebbetts appeared to do amazing vinyl rips and try, with limited audio trickery, get as close to the original as possible.

    As we move further into the world of reissues and remasterings I do hope that other labels will take a look at what Universal ( but not just as high priced Japanese Audiophile Imports) has done with highlighting reissues of DSD Flat Transfers so that we aren't left with a world of historical recording being remastered to satisfy the "Beat Headphone Generation"

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  30. Thsnk you very much for your expertise and generosity, professor.
    Walt

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  31. Thank you for this post, but link seems dead...? Please could it be renewed?

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  32. Thanks for CSG decoded

    -no time-

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  33. thanks Prof Stoned as always, and thanks again for the eddycation i'm getting in the posts above!

    My head is swimming. Time for some PS music :D

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  34. I don't know if it's a issue with Google but every time I download,it's unsuccessful due to "unknown network errors".

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  35. Thanks for Wheels of Fire. Can't wait to hear this rip

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  36. Prof, Have you given any thought to applying your handywork to the 2015 "Cream - The Singles 1967 - 1970" box set ?

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  37. Outstanding. I have multiple versions of this album, but never managed to track this one down. Thank you very much for providing it.

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  38. Thank you again. A trip back to the heady days of youth...

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  39. THANK You so Very Very much!!!
    Outstanding Sound!!!!
    But what about the UK Mono of WOF??
    Been looking for it a Long Time to hear.

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  40. Just sum the stereo channels to one and there you have it.

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  41. OK...so the UK original is a reduction Mix only))))
    I hoped it was a dedicated one...
    Anyway thank you very much again for your GREAT Work!

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  42. Wow that sounds great thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to all this! It's truly astounding!

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  43. I, too, always thought that this record sounded "weird" -- now, it feels a bit "weird" to hear the unprocessed mixes! Thanks for doing the work on this.

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  44. This sounds soooo much better than the official release. Thank you sir!! :) :) :)

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  45. Thanks, this is now my go-to version of my many variants (WG & US Monarch vinyl, WG and DCC CDs). Really really good!!

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  46. Hi Professor. I'm trying to form a Cream collection and am wondering if I could get some advice. Apart from Wheels Of Fire of course, which release is sonically your favorite for the stereo and Momo albums & the two live creams?

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  47. In all honesty, you should ask lukpac and Laservampire on SHtv. I'm sure these guys have done much more thorough research than me.

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  48. Thank You very much!

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  49. Thank you for this one. I am listening to it now. What a difference. Glad I lived long enough to hear it. I remember when my brother brought this album home. Great sound!

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  50. Thanks for all your efforts. This cream album was one of my favorites when I thought I could learn to play drums..

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  51. Thank you very much, just found this blog and it has a lot of exciting stuff to rediscover. Much appreciated

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  52. Some time ago I found on the web an album called Wheels Of Fire [Expanded Audiophile Edition] based on the DCC Compact Classics with CSG decoded. What is the difference with this version?

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  53. The DCC was badly EQ'd by an incompetent hack.

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  54. Prof, As time goes on and I was able to review various versions of many albums that DCC put out I grew to understand just how much the "God of remastering" had feet of clay. I have since sold off all my DCC CDs.

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  55. Thank you Prof. Stoned for this (and for all your work).
    It is very much appreciated and treasured.
    Best wishes,
    Bob

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  56. This is awesome, thanks again Professor.

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  57. Thank you for Wheels On Fire, Sounds lush and rich. Really appreciate your labor of love!

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  58. Wheels Of Fire a texting like spelling mishap. All the best!

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  59. Wow -- this is amazing and very interesting. I wonder what else I've been listening to all these years that needs fixing like this. Thanks very much!

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  60. Why is WOF box Super Deluxe locked? Who knows?
    Jerry

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  61. Thank you much. I often wondered if CSG was something that was necessary in the first place.

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  62. Thanks so much for all your work

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  63. Thank you very much.

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  64. Thank you very much!

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  65. Thank you for this, I look forward to hearing it.

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  66. Tahnk you so much Prof. This sounds terrific. Well done!

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  67. Thank you so much for this upgrade! Would you be kind enough to comment on which tracks you removed the CSG and how many degrees you've switched the phase? Thank you!!

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    Replies
    1. 90 degrees on left channel.

      01. White Room (Non-CSG)
      03. Passing The Time (Non-CSG)
      06. Politician (Non-CSG)
      07. Those Where The Days (Non-CSG)
      08. Born Under A Bad Sign (Non-CSG)
      09. Deserted Cities Of The Heart (Non-CSG)
      10. Anyone For Tennis (Non-CSG)

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    2. Thanks for the reply, was it negative or positive degrees? The SH forums state -90 degrees on the right channel, although it still doesn't sound right when i did it in RX 10.

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  68. Thanks for your knowledge & applied efforts. Sharing both with us all is a great good fortune all-round for the sake of gaining a truer sense of 'hi-fidelity'. I say that bc it's worth stating: So many of these incomparable performances --especially live in this era-- rarely convey a clear image of the live performances. There are exceptions. The exceptional work of the Bear as sound-alchemist with the GD is testament to the quality of 'earing' that image and applying both knowledge & love to do what it takes to actually capture this majik on tape -- while higher than Apollo 9. Just listen to 'Live Dead' from Avalon & FW Jan/Feb '69. Phenomenal fidelity! Owsley being an intrepid tripster, he just kept on actively experimented with different ways of capturing the live image -- the ambient sound of the hall-space vs the in-your-head/on-stage monitor signal as a psychic mainline. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'm listening with appreciation for what is forever ineffable but still matters -- all these years later. Thanks

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  69. Perhaps my favorite Cream album but I have not heard it in years, since the death of my turntable. I very much look forward to listening to your version. Many thanks!

    Brian

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  70. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  71. Thanks for this Prof., the effort you put in makes this the definitive digital version for me.
    If anyone's interested, for the live tracks I've determined that only Toad and Sunshine of Your Love were actually recorded at the Fillmore (Auditorium on the 7th March 1968) despite the official subtitle of the release. The other 4 were all at the Winterland Ballroom on the 10th March 1968 - apart from Traintime, which was on the 8th.

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  72. FABULOUS job on The Cream! Loving your blog which I just discovered. We need a de-mix/remix of Disraeli Gears, seeing as the Multitrack were lost in the Polydor fire (if you should fancy the challenge!). Cant wait to listen to this as the LC stuff sounds amazing. ~peace

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  73. Many thanks for your stirling efforts.

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  74. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  75. I always felt this record sounded off-balance but never knew why. Thank you for fixing it, it makes it so much more enjoyable!

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  76. Phenomenal stuff, Professor ...... Merci

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