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Thread: Serious question. Hearing

  1. #1
    Join Date: Nov 2020

    Location: Leics

    Posts: 207
    I'm David.

    Default Serious question. Hearing

    Stating the obvious we all presumably spend a considerable amount of time and / or money on music, and it's becoming increasingly apparent that my left ear is in far better shape than my right.
    I blame it on being in the firing line of a Marshall guitar cab most nights over a 12 year period. I wasn't even the talent. This was colateral damage.

    So rather than thinking about the next cable or box of electronics, I'm wondering if anyone out there's invested in hearing aids, and how it panned out.
    I definitely don't yet need them in my day to day life but like reading glasses, am fairly sure I could upgrade the sound quality by giving my ears a helping hand

    Anyone been down this route ?
    Mark Levinson 390 CD / Croft 25RS Special Preamp / Croft 7R mono Amps / Neat Ultimatum XLS Speakers

  2. #2
    Join Date: Mar 2008

    Location: Galashiels

    Posts: 13,669
    I'm inthescottishmafia.

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    Do you find it affects your enjoyment of your system? Stating the obvious perhaps, but the brain has amazing powers of compensation.

    I count myself very fortunate in still having good lugs- at 52 I can still hear to 17.5k or so, or at least that's what several apps have told me- I've never had a proper hearing test to confirm. However I did a few years ago contract Meniers' or something like it- I occasionally have minor balance issues, and tinnitus in my right ear. Nothing serious and it does come and go, for which I'm thankful, as it mostly goes. I do have a horror that I'll lose my hearing because of it though, having read of such.
    “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel. I have always needed fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio”

    Hunter S Thompson

  3. #3
    Join Date: Jun 2014

    Location: Chorley Lancs

    Posts: 14,585
    I'm Steve.

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    I did one of those online hearing tests a couple of years ago, which showed me that I'm hearing bugger all above about 7 or 8kHz. Doesn't affect my listening pleasure much, though it does bug me sometimes that small high-frequency sounds that I used to hear on records in the 70s have all but vanished. An example would be the breaking glass in Dire Straits' "Private Investigations".

    No doubt hearing aids would help, but like everything else it would come down to the quality of the device. I'm wondering if approaching it differently, ie increasing high frequency output, is possible? Could super tweeters be fitted, with adjustable volume separate from the rest of the frequency range? Could be a solution, though I wouldn't expect a thankyou from any nearby dogs
    I just dropped in, to see what condition my condition was in

    T/T: Inspire Monarch, X200 tonearm, Ortofon Quintet Blue. Phono: Project Tube Box CD: Marantz CD6006 (UK Edition); Amp: Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated.
    Speakers: Zu Omen Def, REL T9i subwoofer. Cables: Atlas Equator interconnects, Atlas Hyper 3.0 speaker cables

    T'other system:
    Echo Dot, Amptastic Mini One,Arcam A75 integrated, Celestion 5's, BK XLS-200 DF

    A/V:
    LG 55" OLED, Panasonic Blu Ray, Sony a/v amp, MA Radius speakers, REL Storm sub

    Forget the past, it's gone. And don't worry about the future, it doesn't exist. There is only NOW.

    KICKSTARTER: ENABLING SCAMMERS SINCE 2009

  4. #4
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

    Posts: 37,771
    I'm Martin.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony View Post
    I did one of those online hearing tests a couple of years ago, which showed me that I'm hearing bugger all above about 7 or 8kHz. Doesn't affect my listening pleasure much, though it does bug me sometimes that small high-frequency sounds that I used to hear on records in the 70s have all but vanished. An example would be the breaking glass in Dire Straits' "Private Investigations".
    hah! funny you should mention that as listened to that song a few times the other day when comparing DACs and it did occur to me that the breaking glass sound seemed very quiet compared to how I recalled it from my youth. I put it down to different mastering between CD and vinyl but you're probably right it's actually HF hearing loss with age.

    See also - complaining about the trend in modern films for the actors to mumble their dialogue.

    What's that sonny? Speak up!
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  5. #5
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

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    'Good' hearing aids can be targeted to boost sound levels in areas where hearing sensitivity has declined, generally higher frequencies. Unfortunately, what they don't point out, is that the loss of hearing is often caused by 'wear & tear' over the years and boosting sound in the affected parts of the audio band, while it may for the moment make things easier to discern, will also create more wear and tear, just where you don't need it. In other words, you'll get deafer using a hearing aid (probably).

    I've been deaf to high frequencies in my right ear most of my life. I tend not to notice it.
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  6. #6
    Join Date: Jun 2014

    Location: Chorley Lancs

    Posts: 14,585
    I'm Steve.

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    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    'Good' hearing aids can be targeted to boost sound levels in areas where hearing sensitivity has declined, generally higher frequencies. Unfortunately, what they don't point out, is that the loss of hearing is often caused by 'wear & tear' over the years and boosting sound in the affected parts of the audio band, while it may for the moment make things easier to discern, will also create more wear and tear, just where you don't need it. In other words, you'll get deafer using a hearing aid (probably).

    I've been deaf to high frequencies in my right ear most of my life. I tend not to notice it.
    Probably because it's been most of your life. I only notice it when listening to stuff I've been playing since I was a youngster. Doesn't apply with new music, but only because it is new to me.

    Couple of years ago I bought Alice Cooper's "School's Out", which I first had in '72. One particular track (Gutter Cat vs The Jets) has an amount of low-level detail (breaking glass again!), and I was expecting my current set up to be rather more revealing of this than my old Fidelity HF43 record player. Not so, which did piss me off a bit.
    I just dropped in, to see what condition my condition was in

    T/T: Inspire Monarch, X200 tonearm, Ortofon Quintet Blue. Phono: Project Tube Box CD: Marantz CD6006 (UK Edition); Amp: Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated.
    Speakers: Zu Omen Def, REL T9i subwoofer. Cables: Atlas Equator interconnects, Atlas Hyper 3.0 speaker cables

    T'other system:
    Echo Dot, Amptastic Mini One,Arcam A75 integrated, Celestion 5's, BK XLS-200 DF

    A/V:
    LG 55" OLED, Panasonic Blu Ray, Sony a/v amp, MA Radius speakers, REL Storm sub

    Forget the past, it's gone. And don't worry about the future, it doesn't exist. There is only NOW.

    KICKSTARTER: ENABLING SCAMMERS SINCE 2009

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jun 2014

    Location: Chorley Lancs

    Posts: 14,585
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    Good point you make about further damaging your hearing Geoff, which hadn't occurred to me till now. Force feeding your lug holes high freq sounds would just be more of what knackered your hearing in the first place.
    I just dropped in, to see what condition my condition was in

    T/T: Inspire Monarch, X200 tonearm, Ortofon Quintet Blue. Phono: Project Tube Box CD: Marantz CD6006 (UK Edition); Amp: Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated.
    Speakers: Zu Omen Def, REL T9i subwoofer. Cables: Atlas Equator interconnects, Atlas Hyper 3.0 speaker cables

    T'other system:
    Echo Dot, Amptastic Mini One,Arcam A75 integrated, Celestion 5's, BK XLS-200 DF

    A/V:
    LG 55" OLED, Panasonic Blu Ray, Sony a/v amp, MA Radius speakers, REL Storm sub

    Forget the past, it's gone. And don't worry about the future, it doesn't exist. There is only NOW.

    KICKSTARTER: ENABLING SCAMMERS SINCE 2009

  8. #8
    Join Date: Jun 2014

    Location: Chorley Lancs

    Posts: 14,585
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    Just remembered this: A few years ago I got a call while at work from one of these "cash for claims" outfits, who wanted to know if I had ever worked in a noisy environment. When I answered the call I told him he'd have to speak up as I couldn't hear him above all the racket where I was working. he must have thought Wa-hay! I've got a live one here! They sent some guy over to my house armed with a laptop and headphones. I can't remember the numbers, but I know my left ear was a lot worse than my right.

    But when I told him my past working conditions were actually pretty quiet, and that a more likely cause was concerts, rave clubs and my motorbike, he lost interest and left without even having a brew. Never heard from them again.
    I just dropped in, to see what condition my condition was in

    T/T: Inspire Monarch, X200 tonearm, Ortofon Quintet Blue. Phono: Project Tube Box CD: Marantz CD6006 (UK Edition); Amp: Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated.
    Speakers: Zu Omen Def, REL T9i subwoofer. Cables: Atlas Equator interconnects, Atlas Hyper 3.0 speaker cables

    T'other system:
    Echo Dot, Amptastic Mini One,Arcam A75 integrated, Celestion 5's, BK XLS-200 DF

    A/V:
    LG 55" OLED, Panasonic Blu Ray, Sony a/v amp, MA Radius speakers, REL Storm sub

    Forget the past, it's gone. And don't worry about the future, it doesn't exist. There is only NOW.

    KICKSTARTER: ENABLING SCAMMERS SINCE 2009

  9. #9
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony View Post
    Good point you make about further damaging your hearing Geoff, which hadn't occurred to me till now. Force feeding your lug holes high freq sounds would just be more of what knackered your hearing in the first place.
    Precisely!
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  10. #10
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    I'm fairly sure my right ear was damaged using Lee Enfield .303 rifles on a RAF shooting range when I was in my teens (it was a very long time ago). The Enfield has a pressure relief port to its left side that emits large amounts of supersonic energy and I copped a lot of it from the guy to my right. No ear defenders back in those days.

    (yes, I am a qualified RAF marksman and I wasn't even in the RAF )







    .
    Last edited by walpurgis; 25-04-2021 at 09:34.
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

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