[kaufex]

Hello!  I am hearing impaired of high frequency from both ears.  I don’t wear hearing aids because I can get by without them with normal conversation.  I have trouble with letter “s”, whisper and echo environment.  I would say that I have ears of a 70- 80 years old even though I am about half that age.  I have always enjoy high quality sound coming from audiophile headphones, DAC, amp, interconnect cables etc.   

I was able to pass the Bronze Ears in the Philips Golden Ear Challenge with a help of a friend.   I realized that I couldn't pass the Details section without his help.  I realized I am missing some of the audio information in the upper range.  Other sections, I did just fine but my poor ear aren’t able to hear high frequencies.    I am currently doing the Silver Ears.   I am quite discouraged when the difficulties extend to the other sections.  I was able to complete almost everything without an aid except 3 remaining parts.  I am using my AKG Q701 to take the Philip Golden Ear Test.  I wonder if I would perform better with my other cans but half of them are at my parents' place.  They are the Shure SE846, Shure SE425 and Senn HD650.  I won't be able to try my other cans until after I return from oversea in 2 months.
 
Currently what I have with me are the AKG Q701, AKG K551, Koss PortaPro, Meier Stepdance 2 amp and a Centrance DACport.    I do enjoyed listening to audiophile headphones more than I do with the consumer ones but will there be a point where it won't make a difference to my ears anymore??  Will I be able to enjoy the higher end audiophile such as the HD800, LCD-3 and better amp/DAC with less than ideal hearing?  I am quite concerned there will be diminishing of return if I were to upgrade my equipment in the future.

Any thoughts, comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!    

 

[peterinvan]

Hi

I am in my 60's, and have suffered from tinnitus for the past 14 years. I first damaged my ears while doing a DIY speaker project with un-attenuated tweeters. Since then I have a constant ringing in my ears at about 7500 Hz. Recently, I had a pair of Senn HD800's for a week, and managed to do further damage to my ears! Now the ringing is permanently louder.

So, how to face the future? I have just resigned myself to being able to enjoy music, in spite of the physical problems. When I get involved in the music, I do not remember the ringing in my ears.

For your case, I have recently read that experimenting with playback software with good equalization (e.g. FLACplayer iPod and iPad), and using the built in left-right balance settings on Apple devices, you may compensate for some areas of hearing loss.

Just enjoy the music, and let the pleasure distract you from your limitations.

 

[kaufex]

Peterinvan,  tinnitus is very bad especially if you enjoy listening to music.  Is like a person who loves to hike but have knee problems.  If I had your condition, I would probably pay the price to listen a little bit of music every now and then.  Once in a blue moon I do suffer a little bit tinnitus but it goes away.   It won't stop me from enjoying music.  

 
 
I just hope I know when to stop upgrading if my ears can't tell the difference.  I don't know if this the case or not for people who are hearing impaired.  I don't have the opportunity to listen to high-end headphones so I would like to know some insights of what people may have about this.  All my purchases have been made based on reviews. 

 

[cdsa35000]

Try restore with hearing therapy, play low volume barok/classical music with only high freq. EQ' ed, sissling sounds.
http://www.soundtherapyperth.com/benefits/hearing.php

http://www.google.com/search?hl=restore+hearing+therapy