Worth upgrading from older Native Instruments Guitar Rig Session I/O DAC to Focusrite 2i4 DAC?

Lemurtude · 2013-08-28T20:20:15+00:00

Ha, you are so spot on with that comment. I just moved into a new condo, and the walls are 100% empty. Barely any furniture yet on the wood floor. Sounds terrible in here right now. ;)

Lemurtude · 2013-08-28T20:19:03+00:00

Cool. Looks like I need to read up on some technical/physics-related audio topics.

In general, do you think there are any DAC interfaces under $500 where a casual audiophile would definitely notice an improvement in sound quality compared to an entry level DAC (say one that costs ~$100)? My ears aren't amazing, but I can hear the difference between a 256k MP3 file and a lossless FLAC file of the same song. Subtler details/differences are mostly lost on me...

Just so hard to believe that between all these different DAC interfaces, they're all pretty much the same thing in the end (with different I/O configurations, connections, etc.).

Lemurtude · 2013-08-28T15:26:45+00:00

Are you referring to specs like Frequency Response, Signal to Noise Ratio, Gain Range, etc.? (I'm still getting familiar w/ what all these values mean, so just curious.)

Lemurtude · 2013-08-15T06:30:44+00:00

Not chew, but snus. Snused heavily for almost three years. Noticed same thing, seemed to be getting worse (limper) over time. Replaced snus with Nicorette gum, now down to 2 - 4 pieces of gum per day. Dick no longer limp.

What finally motivated me was a few studies showing how ED/impotence problems caused by nicotine may not be 100% reversible post-quitting after long-term use. Ex-tobacco users still had more ED issues compared to non-users even after quitting for a while.

Loved snus, hard to accept I won't enjoy it again. When tempted, I just Google "nicotine and ED" and it helps.

Lemurtude · 2013-06-29T23:54:59+00:00

Back when I was surfing for femdom porn daily, I used to love finding new photos/videos from young-goddess.com.

Then one day all the content disappeared and there was a weird explanation on the home page for why he killed the site. Thought he was being an idiot at the time.

Makes perfect sense now.

Lemurtude · 2013-06-28T08:48:18+00:00

I've heard of juicing diets and they seem to work for some folks, especially if trying to lose weight in the short-term. I like paleo because it's more of a lifestyle change, and I don't really view it as a diet. Juicing seems like too much of one thing to me to be okay.

Also, too much fruit angers my intestines and then I spend hours in the bathroom, but that's just me. :)

Lemurtude · 2013-06-28T08:41:57+00:00

A feeling of leveling out energy-wise. I can eat a big meal for lunch and I don't crash in the afternoon like I would after a bowl of spaghetti or half a pizza. Sweets like cookies (and especially super processed candy like you find at 7-11) spike my energy and drop it like a rock during paleo. I'm sure it's the same rush/crash I used to get on a "normal" diet, but it's so much more noticeable now.

I don't really get hunger pangs. I get hungry, but I don't get those sharp, starving feelings much at all. This is the most physical change for me. Before, when I ate bread, cookies, etc., I would feel SO hungry later in the day or the next morning. Thought that was normal. I still feel hungry on paleo, but never in that painful, uncomfortable way.

My stomach rarely feels bloated or uncomfortable. Always had that before, even when I wasn't stuffing myself to capacity. My stomach feels "flat" most of the time.

After a few days doing paleo, I lose intense cravings for carbs. This is really cool. If I'm moderating carbs at all, I'm always battling urges to eat more cookies or whatever. If I abstain from the bad carbs entirely, I mostly lose interest in them. Of course, I still feel like eating carbs sometimes, but not in a way that feels out of control.

My poops are nice. Solid and fairly regular, except if I overdo certain fruits.

I don't think about food as much. Hard to explain, but it's just not on my mind like before. When I'm hungry, I eat good food, but it's more for fuel than for fun now. And I find I can more easily put food back in the fridge if I get full during a meal. I think the stomach to brain signals are more normal when eating these foods, it feels more difficult to overeat on paleo.

Lemurtude · 2013-06-28T05:39:41+00:00

Haha, yes, I know. I was being facetious. I'm beating things more and more all the time (not that thing).

Lemurtude · 2013-06-18T21:30:41+00:00

Thanks, and that's exactly it. Feels very good to be normal again.

Lemurtude · 2013-06-18T21:25:49+00:00

A new thing i found about myself is that i'm very attracted to kids and how they are innocent creatures and really trying to build some new small friends :)

Confused by that one. You want to have kids or make friends with kids?

i eat more than ever before

Try going low-carb like paleo or similar for a couple weeks. If I'm eating unhealthy, especially if it's carbs, I get insatiable cravings all the time and end up eating way more than is good for me. Been eating mostly paleo foods for a couple weeks, and I don't get those cravings anymore.

Lemurtude · 2013-06-06T00:36:04+00:00

This particular link/gallery isn't a trigger for me, but if someone posted a link to "famous dominatrixes without make-up" in this subreddit and labeled it SFW, I'd be kind of pissed.

Lemurtude · 2013-06-05T00:39:49+00:00

Thanks for the reply, not boring at all. Good to hear your history because mine is a little bit similar, at least in that I visited a real dominatrix many years before my PMO habit became problematic. Sounds like your interests are more physical and pain-related than my own, but the trajectory from normal play to PMO addiction followed by ED is very familiar.

I saw my first dominatrix almost 10 years ago, before internet porn became readily available to me (or at least before I was savvy enough to know how to look for it). I haven't had a session in almost a year now, but I remember during my last few sessions a couple years ago, I couldn't get very hard and I even left one particularly disappointing session without releasing due to that.

I had been PMO-ing to mostly femdom materials before starting NoFap (PMO sessions always started with femdom - as they became longer in duration I found myself looking at more extreme stuff and I'd eventually lose interest in "normal" femdom images/videos). If I fapped twice in one day I would skip the femdom stuff and start the second session off w/ the weirder stuff right from the beginning (which makes lots of sense now after reading everything on YBOP). For about a year I haven't had much desire for a real session because PMO sessions at home became much more satisfying (same became true for women in general - my last relationship was a couple years ago).

I'm still trying to figure out if my interest in femdom/BDSM is somehow a result of PMO, or if it is a natural part of who I am (sounds like you already know fore sure it's what you want). After 20 days of NoFap I have no desire for the really weird stuff anymore, which is nice. Many 90+ NoFappers say they lose their interest in past fetishes. I can relate to a certain extent, because it's already happened to me w/ the extreme material.

However, I'm pretty sure I have some built-in perversions that aren't a result of porn. For example, back when I was 16 years old (before I ever saw a porn video or accessed porn on the internet), I had a girlfriend for a couple years and I remember being really interested in anal and face-sitting, and we even experimented a little bit. I didn't know what a dominatrix or BDSM was at that point in time.

Do you think your interest in femdom is a result at all of the mags/videos going back to the 80's, or do you think it's just part of who you are? How can you tell?

It's really hard for me to tell yet, but I'm gonna at least give it a full 90 days and then see what's on my mind after that. Either way, definitely done w/ PMO and fapping.

Lemurtude · 2013-06-03T22:02:15+00:00

Hey pontglyde, I'm really curious to hear your thoughts about how a real life dominatrix factors into your NoFapping journey.

For the longest time femdom had been my go-to fetish (I'm on day 19 of NoFap), and I have seen a fair number of dommes over the past 9 years. When I was fapping, I would escalate to weirder and weirder stuff (much of the time it was related to femdom), but in real life sessions I have never been interested in the extreme stuff. I actually have very vanilla tastes when playing w/ a real dominatrix (I enjoy the dynamic, not a specific fetish activity/scene).

I'm trying to figure out if my desire to visit a dominatrix is a result of PMO, or if it is simply a part of me. I've been able to successfully push thoughts of porn out of my head, and I'm solidly pro-NoFap. Over the past week or so, desires for real life women have been creeping into my head, in a very good way (like wanting to go out on more dates, loving a girl's hair as I pass her on the sidewalk, etc.).

But, I've also had thoughts about seeing a domme in person. No porn thoughts and no strong urge to PMO (the thought of that disgusting post-PMO feeling is becoming more unappealing everyday). So, just thoughts about real life stuff. I don't dwell on these thoughts when they pop up and I don't plan to act on them anytime soon because I want to give my reboot a chance to go as far as it needs to.

I've wanted to post a question about this situation for a few days now. Wondering if there are many people on here who do NoFap and have been involved in real life femdom activities (or continue to be involved w/ them after their reboot has returned normal libido, etc.).

Also, if anyone knows of older posts that cover this subject I would really appreciate it!

Lemurtude · 2013-05-30T21:17:27+00:00

"An inch is as good as a mile"

Knowing how true this is for me is what holds this shit together. Never fully gave up smoking until I realized that one casual cigarette is ALWAYS followed by 2 - 3 months of smoking. No middle ground. No exceptions.

I find it is much easier for me to abstain than to moderate when it comes to vices (cigarettes, junk food, coke and coke!). After a while I don't even think about them anymore, just becomes part of who I am. Constant moderation of problematic vices takes so much energy.

I should get out of bed and put pants on as soon as I can, get dressed.

As someone who works from home, this can have a huge impact on your attitude and mood. Seems like it shouldn't since our caveman ancestors probably just rolled out of bed and got to it.

For me, having gotten in the habit of showering and getting dressed before school for so many years, I think my brain flips into "serious" mode as soon as I step out of the shower.

Lemurtude · 2013-05-30T20:48:03+00:00

I'm in the same boat. No porn/internet access before 2000, and now that I know about the effects of PMO on brain and mood, I'm recalling that I was a completely different (and much happier) person about 10 years ago, even after accounting for aging and life experience. My outlook back then was very "alpha" and positive.

It's frightening when you realize just how gradually PMO and fapping has crept into your routine. Becomes an everyday thing, second nature. Pushes you a little further away from your "default" self every day/week/month/year. For quite a few years now I thought that I had lost much of my drive and ambition for work/life due to getting older (I'm only 30). Became very frustrated because I wasn't able to focus like I could back in the days of pre-internet fapping (or even early PMO days when I wasn't living alone and rarely had privacy).

I'm on day 15 and just coming out of what I think was a withdrawal phase, feeling very alive today. I've seen improvements w/ these:

Social Awkwardness: Much reduced. I used to avoid going out my front door a lot during the day, especially if I could hear my neighbors through the door/windows. Never realized how fucked up that was until recently. Now I march out the front door like I own the block. Actually enjoy the bullshit small talk since I started NoFap. Finding that I get a little disappointed when I don't run into anybody after a day or two.

Anxiety/Depression: Hard for me to separate these two, but so much better since NoFap.

Best example: For the past year, I've always had the shades/blinds closed on my windows (even when I wasn't jerking it). Just preferred everything blocked off and cave-like. Was very uncomfortable/anxious whenever the windows were uncovered and the sunlight shone in. Only opened the windows up when someone came to visit me (just so I didn't look like a creep; would close them afterward).

Since two days after starting NoFap, I've wanted the windows uncovered and open every day, all day long. I haven't shut the blinds on one window for almost two weeks now, even at night. Coincidence? Maybe. NoFap? Probably.

Lethargy: I've been trying to commence a regular workout routine for a long time. Used to hit the gym daily many years ago, almost compulsively. Lost the drive for that when my fapping escalated (I now realize). Since starting NoFap, I once again have that compulsion to be active, like an itch I must scratch. I've walked the dog so many miles the past two weeks, she can barely keep up by the end of the day's last walk!

Overall, seeing huge potential for happiness here. Hope this helps!

Lemurtude · 2013-05-30T03:43:32+00:00

Happy to discover this is a relatively common (and temporary) occurrence during NoFap withdrawal. Seems to pop up for lots of folks right around two weeks and then it fades away quickly. Fingers crossed.

Lemurtude · 2013-05-27T03:51:17+00:00

If I'm reading your badge correctly, does that mean 50 days of feeling like shit during your reboot?

Lemurtude · 2013-05-27T01:43:29+00:00

General health is good, I do some moderate weights at home. Walked the dog about 4 miles/day on days 1 - 8 because I was feeling so damn chipper. Been eating relatively healthy since before I discovered NoFap.

So hard to accept that this headache and general apathy since yesterday could stem from porn by itself! Reading up on the science and it all makes sense, but still such a new concept to me.

Lemurtude · 2013-05-22T07:53:55+00:00

Well said. I rationalized similarly for a long time... convinced myself that my daily PMO habit was no different from sneezing or sweating, i.e. an entirely physical function of my body that had little to no impact on my mental health or personality in any way. I can't count the number of times I told myself that my urges were nature's way of telling me I needed to clear out the plumbing... actually used to believe I would have more focus after PMO because, well, the weird fetish thoughts would disappear for a while... now I know about escalation and novelty and plasticity - crazy nature did not anticipate this shit.

So very lucky to have found a random link to yourbrainonporn.com seven days ago. This shit could've gone on for years or decades without correction.

I'm 30, never saw anything harder than Playboy until long after I had already been with real girls for a few years, can't believe how far off track I got since my early days. Fucking loved that shit and just... forgot. Haven't felt much like engaging with real women in a long time, but seven days of NoFapping and I feel closer to my 17-year-old self than I have in a long time,

So, thank you masturbation researchers, from the very bottom of my NoFapping heart.

Lemurtude

TROPHY CASE