High End Audio and Your hearing as you get older

Really, a trained ear takes years to develope. So, with age, what you may loose in Hz range, is offset by knowing what to listen for. Younger people probably dont hear "better" because they don't know how to listen yet. My hearing for detail has got so good that it becomes anoying sometimes- like I can't shut it off. Some times I wish I only had mid-fi hearing!!!

Well I guess this can all be summed up quite nicely by saying; as one gets older, one (hopefully) accumulates more wealth, which means one can buy more and better equipment.

I also have tinnitis and happened to play some test tones yesterday to learn that while I can hear a 10k tone loud and clear, I near nothing at 12.5k (the next available test tone).

This caused some amount of panic - what am I missing out on on, etc. I researched hearing aids - the open ear kinds that boost only the desired frequencies but learned that they don't work above 10k...

My ears are very sensitive to the higher frequencies now. I can't enjoy a concert without earplugs (i.e. the combo of distortion and loud volumes is very painful). I can listen to my own system loud because it's clean.

I did recently learn that in some songs I can't hear the highhats until the volume hits 82 db, then I hear them loud and clear. Weird...

I am curious to know what musical information I am missing. I suspect it's not that much, but still...

To answer Fishboat, Anyone who rides a motorcycle without a windshield, ear covering helmet, or earplugs is getting about 110-120db at 60mph. That will definitely ruin your hearing. I have heard the phrase "listening at audiophile volume levels". Does this mean super loud like 110-120db? That will definitely ruin your hearing also.

If you can still discern the difference between a live performance and recorded one, I think you have lots of fun ahead of you. It's more than just frequency response.