Serious question. Hearing

[Pharos]

I have severe hearing loss in my right ear, nothing much above 5k, and some in the left. In my last job as a BT field 'engineer' I had to trace lines using a detector which produced at maximum a level of 131.5 dB in the headphone, and high levels were necessary when in a noisy environment, eg. 105dB at London Bridge.

irony, after litigation I purchased my current loudspeakers which go up to 50kHz.

At the BBC in '70 we used to clean uniselectors, and used an aquarium full of Inhibisol with our arms emerged in it up to the elbows; it is not unlike carbon tetrachloride.

At the Lab of the Gov't Chemist I used to maintain gas chromatographs, lined with asbestos, and on the notice board were the three types, white, blue, and brown, listed as a serious hazard to the lungs.

I do think that hearing aids are a no no for me because they are unlikely to be transparent, and as with glasses, I insist on making myself work to maintain what I have, and, although briefly, listening at 130dB at 30 ft on ATC 100s which I did in about '98 does not improve intelligibility. I restrict myself to about 75 max now, and hear everything, (except due to hearing loss, the ding bells on Enigma).

[paulf-2007]

A friend got hearing aids, audiologist said hearing loss was without doubt caused by power tools at work. Hearing is now great but he could no longer listen to his oris horns with lowther dx4. Had to move them on.

[Pigmy Pony]

If someone who develops severe hearing problems has to alter his system to suit, I bet it would sound bloody awful to a partner with good hearing.

I once bought a record, "Space" by Magic Fly from a work colleague who was profoundly deaf. Apparently it was the vibrations he "listened" to. Pity his neighbours. Anyway, the record was so crackly it was unplayable, so went straight in the bin

[Pete The Cat]

If someone who develops severe hearing problems has to alter his system to suit, I bet it would sound bloody awful to a partner with good hearing.

I once bought a record, "Space" by Magic Fly from a work colleague who was profoundly deaf. Apparently it was the vibrations he "listened" to. Pity his neighbours. Anyway, the record was so crackly it was unplayable, so went straight in the bin

My hearing was damaged at a concert a decade ago. I was right at the back of a well known very large venue in East London... Hyperacus, tinnitus and top end loss. I found it's a case of trying to adapt and appreciate what you've still got. Nowadays I can listen to music up to c.75db comfortably, my tinnitus doesn't trouble me, and my hearing is only the equivalent of 10 years worse than it would've been and so I'll settle for all that. I work with a hearing charity now. As has been posted above, hearing aids don't restore a "normal" balanced range across all the frequencies - in the same way that cupping your hands behind your ears helps some frequencies, it also makes things sound odd overall. To the OP, yes, it is a serious question and can be troubling. I do hope it works out for you.

Space Magic Fly was insanely catchy, essentially the same little synth ditty repeated over and over. I remember them on Top Of the Pops, wearing space hemets, naturally.

Damn! I've got it in my head now! Must find it and give it a listen...

Pete

[Mr.Ian]

Check out your hearing on this web page. Its worryingly accurate. It will give you a good idea if you need hearing aids

[Mr.Ian]

https://hearingtest.online/

[winstonmalcolm]

I ran a stereo test CD which produces tones at various frequencies and found I couldn't hear anything at and above 9k .
It got me thinking about my IMFTLS50's and whether the recap I did was working as expected. I downloaded a frequency analyser app for my phone and played the test CD and sure enough there were clear peaks above 9k on the frequency analyser app although I couldn't hear a thing.
I was able to compare channel output separately and satisfy myself the the speaker outputs were roughly similar and good enough for my needs.
For a cheap cheerful quick check it was quite informative.

[Pigmy Pony]

I ran a stereo test CD which produces tones at various frequencies and found I couldn't hear anything at and above 9k .
It got me thinking about my IMFTLS50's and whether the recap I did was working as expected. I downloaded a frequency analyser app for my phone and played the test CD and sure enough there were clear peaks above 9k on the frequency analyser app although I couldn't hear a thing.
I was able to compare channel output separately and satisfy myself the the speaker outputs were roughly similar and good enough for my needs.
For a cheap cheerful quick check it was quite informative.

Certainly cheap, but being shown that I'm mutton jeff didn't make me cheerful

[winstonmalcolm]

Yeah it is frustrating although I have had trouble deciphering some speech on TV for a while so it wasn't a great surprise.
Still enjoying my music and system so that's the main thing. Won't be spending fortunes on upgrades that's for sure.

[walpurgis]

I have hearing problems, but they don't bother me much normally. My recently purchased telly has rubbish sound quality though and I mean really rubbish through its own speakers. I tried it connected to the Hi-Fi, but didn't like that, so I dug out a Cyrus 'Cyruslink' 2.1 sub-sat system I'd had for years and rigged that up with excellent results. I don't want surround sound, as I dislike it.

If you want a bit of extra clarity for undemanding listening in any setup, check out NXT 2.1 systems. I have one on each computer and they work brilliantly. One from Advent and one from TDK. They haven't been marketed for years, but can still be found second-hand very cheaply. You get the same kind of presentation that electrostatic speakers offer.