when your hearing is not as good as it was . . .
I'm 68, and too much loud live rock contributed to what they call mild-to-moderate hearing loss. So.
What will no longer make a difference in terms of my components? What can I sacrifice, because I can no longer hear it?
Will Bluetooth sound the same from my DAC vs going through my preamp for example?
Can I hear the diff between a tube (Freya) and solid state preamp?
Can anyone share their experience and if they've done anything to their systems?
I have been tested and certain upper frequencies not quite as sharp as it once was a bit rolled off on tip like hearing a cymbal fade instead of 4 times 3, and even certain parts of the midrange,, midBass not so much , That being said better audio equipment for sure helps especially the dac and cabling to give it That extra definition . |
It’s normal to loose ability to hear higher frequencies with age. The good news is 10 kHz and above is mainly where “air” occurs in music meaning cymbals lose their sheen and sparkle, etc but most music occurs well below that frequency. On the plus side a lot of noise and distortion that can make listening fatiguing also occurs at those higher frequencies so older ears will naturally filter that out. Other than that, what one hears or not and what differences can be discerned or even matter will vary case by case. A hearing test is really the only way to know. The good news is that once does know and up to a certain point equalization might be applied to compensate. Modern Digital Signal Processing for example like that included in Roon streaming makes applying equalization for a variety of purposes easier than ever.
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Check ot the Widex 440 Series. I did a lot or research when i was lookng for my hearing aids. It seems like the Widex 440 is used by a lot of musicians. It has a 10-Band equalizer that the doctor sets up and a three-band equalizer that you can adjust and save the settings. Sound, to me, is very natural. It opened up my music enjoyment again and I cna't be happier.
Attached is a link to a paper that I came across in my research - Hope it helps
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+1 @hilltoppa At 74 I am on my third pair of aids. The first two were so bad that I couldn't stand to wear them. Expensive well known brands - but awful, particularly with music. Now using Widex 440 and couldn't be happier. Very natural sounding: no edginess, no grit and grain, no fatigue. |
