Upgrade my DAC or buy more weed?

"...Hardware; Contingencies. Yes, I know."...

I was listening to some old tunes last night and had a temporal shift back to some meaningful events in my life that were current when I was listening to this music.

Listening to Overnight Sensation and Apostrophe last night took me back to the 420 Club in Amsterdam a few years ago, where a huge photo of FZ was staring down at me from the wall while they had his albums playing, while I watched a video on a huge tv screen with no sound from a nature show of the release and flight of a Condor with a Go Pro strapped to his back, while I waited for the joint’s (pun intended) Volcano to do its magic.  Indelibly stamped in my hippocampus now (they played lot of Supertramp too).  Just remember everybody, “the crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe”.

Weed, music, and FOOD!  There's your match made in heaven.

Two weeks ago I had a work buddy over for some smoking and listening, something we do every few months together.  He bought me a great gift of some very fine bourbon:  Blanton's Straight from the Barrel.  I started loving bourbon ~3 years ago, and I find it a perfect accompaniment to weed.  This Blanton's has re-defined what bourbon can be to me.  It is ridiculously expensive, so you only pour a little, and you sip it really slowly.  I literally will simply wet my tongue with 3 - 4 drops and let is soak in - - it's a 5 minute experience per application!  It just evolves in so many wonderfully flavorful ways over that time, so much more than any other bourbon I've drank (Prichard's Double Barreled and Colonel Taylor Single Barrel had been my previous "bests").

Well, while having smoked some fantastic weed and enjoying an ounce or so of this Blanton's, I started applying this same long, slow savoring approach to the food we had:  outstanding licorice, chocolates, seasoned nuts.  And I found that the Blanton's had changed my life.  I ended up eating only a little bit of food throughout the 5 hour listening session, as opposed to getting stuffed to the gills.  This solves my biggest problem with weed:  the munchy monster.  And it is just so much more "zen".

I do think weed changes how your brain reacts to sensory perception, which makes tastes and sounds just so appealing (and physical intimacy, it must be said - - tough to beat sex!).

Like @snackeyp above, I was a real chronic for a few years in my adolescence, and I found steady smoking to be deadening to life.  But at a frequency of once a week max, I find weed to add something nice.

I also find weed to be an excellent differentiator for system quality:  if my system is tending to the boring or annoying side, I just can't stand it stoned.  If I'm leaving the room, that speaks volume about where my system evolution is at.  When I have it tuned right for "engaging" I never want to stop listening.

As THC becomes legal in evermore states (and ultimately on the Federal level), I think we need a "THC users group" thread so seasoned uses can advise newbees and share experiences. Fortune has made THC (not using street names on purpose) available to me after 35 years of non-use and it was worth the wait (has pluses and minuses of course). Someone here recently described THC and music as "a match made in Heaven". I agree.

Pass the Twinkies!

I was a regular pot smoker in high school and college, and found that my life would always take a down turn while I was smoking regularly.  I believe this is because I was too young to use it responsibly and allowed it to take over my life.
I'm in my 50's now and find that I can use it responsibly and that it enhances my enjoyment of life in some ways.  I no longer smoke it, ever since I discovered edibles.  Gummies are my favorite.  I find edibles very relaxing as they seem to provide a body buzz more than a cerebral buzz (but also have enough of the cerebral buzz to be enjoyable).  
I only eat once a week on average, and this frequency keeps me on track to remain responsible in other areas such as family commitments, work and social life.  I have chronic pain in my lower back and joints.  I find weed helps with this, but I do not take it for that as I do not want to use it daily.  
I find that my enjoyment of music greatly increases when I'm high, similar to what the OP describes.  I don't fully understand why this is, but I think it's because the weed relaxes muscles and slows the brain function just enough to allow the music to process in the brain at a deeper level.  No everyone experiences this with weed.  Several of my friends are fascinated to hear that music sounds better to me when I'm high.  

One basic question needs to be addressed: Does a soso DAC sound better when toasted?
My weed smokin' days are over so I'd buy the DAC.

A lot of bad jokes on this thread. 

More weed

When I'm in OZ, believe me, my system is "perfect" enough...

Excellent question audiofreak31. I had a similar experience recently with the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore kickn' it live to near concert level dbs. I could almost smell the weed wafting through the Fillmore even before I lit up. It was at that moment I realized that my system sounded great, and it was reproducing music in a way that I have been building towards for a long time. I knew this because I couldn't stop listening. At that moment I then asked myself, is it perfect? Of course not, there is NO such system, regardless of  how much money one spends and to continue to chase the notion of a perfect system buy continually upgrading is a fools errand. There are three types of stereos, boring, annoying, or engaging, obviously you've got the latter, which is what we should all be striving for. In other words, the answer to your question is obvious, buy more weed.       

Your answer can be found in this little nugget from the 1970’s:

“Weed will get you through times of no DAC, better than a DAC will get you through times of no weed.”


Paraphrased, with apologies to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers

Edibles are my least favorite way to enjoy, too much a body experience without enough brain for my tastes.  And I have found the vaping pens to be sort of "monochromatic" in the buzz (I have several friends that have come to the same conclusion).  I still much prefer some sweet, new, potent leaf - - it brings a fuller spectrum high IME.

And a better DAC still brings more fun to the table, IME!  A good tube roll can be the equivalent of an upgrade, too - - no doubt about it.

I enjoy eating good herb and listening once in a while.

Buy a better dac and smoke less.

Move to Carpinteria, CA and all you need to do is step outside your door and breath the air to get your fix of weed. Carpinteria, CA maybe the center of the "legal" weed industry in CA. I used to live there but that smell was too much for this non-smoker.

I just recently switched from smoking flower to vaping concentrates... wax, crumble or shatter.  It is like 60-90% THC concentrate and much easier to deal with than having to grind, pack a bowl and smoke.  One tiny little amount is very potent - just drop it into the heating chamber and vape.. usually one decent hit is about the same as an entire bowl of ground flower.  And you really have to be careful of how much you take of these concentrates.  If you go too far, you can start to feel very nauseous, light-headed and everything starts to wobble & cavitate - in a scary way.  If you don't keep your eyes open, it gets worse and you can sometimes vomit and/or pass out.  The last listening session I had, I was vaping some hybrid crumble and it was amazing.  Once you are in the zone, it is like you are floating with the music.... total trip.
I still have the Eastern Electric DAC... recently put a really old NOS RCA tube in.... sounds amazing.

Did anybody tried to vape weed? Is it better than smoking?

Best post ever. You should be able to do both. I don't believe smoking herb leads to making poor decisions. That's what alcohol does, not weed. The only poor decision a stoned person ever made was eating Doritos instead of Kale chips.

If you live in the State where medicated marijuana is legal, go that path - it's cheaper and better for your health I heard, and it's safer when you go to get it. 

On the audio side, have you considered spinning plastic (Turn table)? I had 2 TTs and never used them for years. Just hook one up because my wife put it near my system today. Wow - it has soul man that is missing from digital, even with high level DAC...Super audio CD's come closer , but I still prefer analog sound. Just something to think about, before forking out big dough on digital.

If I was still smoking weed I would go with the more weed but Im not although I do miss it when listing to my music, Music and weed are a marriage made in heaven. 

I think most on here would agree that this "country is going to pot" because of a lot more than people smoking some weed.

Posts like this are proof positive our country is going to pot.

Your in luck. High End DAC manufactures are replacing ceramic boards with boards made of Hemp. "You can listen to music all night long and get stoned to the bejeezus".

dbtom2116 posts08-17-2016 9:19amI believe that DAC is a known 'gateway' device. Your desire to upgrade it is typical of a user's path to harder, more devastatingly costly equipment.

Titration might help stem the progression. Please, for the sake of your loved ones, stay away from jazz music.

Now that made me laugh out loud. Good one db.

Vinyl sounds great... with good vinyl and a nice turntable, but too much work... guess my generation is kinda lazy. 

Dude!
If you're listening to a DAC ( never understood why you'd wanna "convert" from digital to analog, why not listen to LPs?) You don't have the album covers to roll your doobies, mman. 
 Irony is, since you listen to a DAC, and not music, you could use some weed. 
But...

 audio freak or czarivey perhaps we need a separate thread about weed and disregard the misinformation RE: audio gear. Sounds like there might be a " need " for it. 

I lasted nearly 5 days without single hour of sleep time, but definitely exchausted and ordered supply to help me go to bed peacefully. Weed first, than DAC or any type of equipment.

I heard them at the CES show in about 2004 and they look so cool and sounded good, can't remember the speakers. They never got traction however. 

Arizona is a bit "strange".  It's really gotten way too big here (about 4.2 million people in all of the Phoenix Metro area)... more crime, more illegals, more drug problems (only the bad drugs, not weed).  Sheriff Joe does like the make headlines.

I bought the Grommes from an Audiogon member about 2 months ago - he was local.  He bought from the last batch they made around 2 years ago.  It uses EL84 for output - I have Telefunken in there now.  Not sure of the other smaller tube types.  Very nice sound (as many SET amps are I suppose), but with 1.8-watts, needs the right speaker.

audiofreak

My last post was directed at Phoenix and Sheriff " Bust you Nuts" Arpalo. Arizona has some great towns and great places to live, not sure I could keep from killing myself with the politics of that state. If I did it would be with your recommended AK-47

Well if I lived in Arizona I would smoke a hell of a lot of weed. They couldn't grow it fast enough. 

How long have you had that Gromme amp and curious what tubes that uses. 

What kind of fraud are you perpetrating. No matter what kind of equipment you buy, you ain't gonna give up the weed. Weed is table stakes man. 

Actually, it doesn't matter which one you do since the other one will follow.

Wow, this new DAC sounds great, I need to get some more weed before I run out.

Wow, this weed I just got is killer, think I'll upgrade my DAC.

We are talking about the latest "Mini Max Supreme" correct?

How much?

The EE Tube DAC has gold plated DIP sockets for the ICs.  No soldering is required.  Instructions and pictures of a EE Tube DAC with  discrete component opamps are on both the Burson and Sparkos websites.  Easy to do.  

Depends on whether they are DIP packages or SMD. If DIP, depends on whether they were socketed or not. If not, take them out, add some nice sockets, and then do what you want with the op amps.

In addition to chip rolling (just swapping one set of IC's for another) there's also some discrete op amps that will fit into a DIP package with enough clearance. :)

Fun stuff to do if your gear isn't htat expensive. If it is, I suggest new gear instead. :)

Best,

Erik

I have had people telling me to swap out the OPAMPS, but how much do they cost and do I have to solder the parts?

The EE Tube DAC has much more capability than you have heard if you haven't swapped out the 4 IC that come in sockets with the unit.  The Burson V5 discrete component opamps are a revaluation, especially if you bypass the output coupling capacitors of the EE.  The Sparkos discrete component opamps are also a quite remarkable.

Buy one used, the other new.....

I'm sure you can figure that formula out...if not, you should pause on smoking and let me know what it is or was...*L*

Reefer Madness! 
Robot Chicken

papa: Psychedelic drugs tend to reveal your true inner self...

oregonpapa,
in hippies life drug of almost any kind often accossiated with peace.
you must be than a different specie. 

I tried pot once. It made me want to rape and kill. 

Buy a tube DAC and use it as a vaporizer

I'd say to go with the weed first, in terms of bang for your buck.  A nice upbeat Indica strain will put you right into the music and expand it around you in a way that the DAC never could.