I thought I would weigh in on this topic since I have run into some hearing probs myself. About 10 years ago, in my mid 20s, I got a hearing test and it showed some pretty significant loss for someone pretty young. This test concluded that my high frequencies were deficient (10KHZ-Left, 12KHZ -Right). My frequency response has dipped a bit in 10 years, but the fact remains that there is an imbalance that is noticeable. After that initial test, I went into a state of depression and it took years for me to conclude that my loss really wasn't my fault ( I didn't burn my ears out listening to loud concerts, loud workplace etc...). My loss was due to some horrible ear infections as a child combined with a genetic predisposition for tinnitus. As an audiophile, it is sometimes hard to listen to the 'music' rather than listening to the 'sound,' if you get my drift. Often times I would catch myself getting wrapped up in the way the music 'sounded' in my system as well as obsessing about my own hearing inadequacy. It has taken years really just to come to grips with this and to force myself to focus on musical content rather than frequency response and balance. It is especially difficult in my situation with one ear more deficient than the other. When listening through headphones or a balanced two channel system, the focus and content tend to be a little more towards the right. This is because of the way, as you all know, the brain interprets, and interpolates stereo signals. That said, I am still an avid audiophile and I appreciate adding equipment into my system which makes things sound better. I might not be able to hear like a dog, but what I do hear, I really appreciate. So here are some morsels of wisdom for those with some hearing loss: * Stop obsessing about the 'sound' and get back to hearing the music. * If you do listen to the 'sound,' focus on the differences. If you slide in a new component, tweak, cable, etc... and you can hear or even 'feel' a noticeable difference, then it is a good thing. * Don't let anyone make you feel inadequate. So what if you cannot hear high frequencies! Unless you do it for a living as in audio/music engineering, listening is a 'personal experience.' * I wouldn't get your hearing checked unless you are having a hard time communicating via spoken word. All an ENT/Audiologist would do is say 'gee you have some hearing loss don't ya?' What can they do other than recommend a hearing aid? There is no surgery or rogaine for the cochlear hairs folks. * For those of you that do have tinnitus, I have have found some relief by taking the vitamin Niacin. It does quiet the ringing a bit. It is over the counter, but I would suggest asking your doctor about it first. You can get help/support here: http://www.ata.org/ if you like.
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