When is it time to stop the never ending quest for audiophile playback perfection?

[PeterG]

A few thoughts from someone with compromised ears but a great stereo:

 

No question that if your goal is perfection, you might as well stop now.  But maybe your goal could be to maximize beauty?  (Obviously, this is a personal choice.  While it happens to be my hifi goal,  I am not asserting it should be your goal)

 

I have lost some hearing on the high end, but my system, based entirely on my ears, brings big smiles to family and friends with excellent ears; and this includes a very demanding professional musician/producer.  So I do not think hearing loss has reduced my ability to enjoy my stereo, and I plan to continue improving my system.

 

I have very expensive hearing aides ($7500 Phonaks).  My hearing is good enough that they help only some of the time.  They suck for music--I take them out for even a casual listen.  The audiologist told me they'd be fine for music after I got used to them, and I was unquestioning until I got home and turned on some tunes.  But if you think about this for just a moment, it's obvious that no hearing aide is going to satisfy a person used to a high end system--you've dropped tens of thousands of dollars on amplification, and now you're going to insert ultra-miniature amps and speakers into the chain?  (you'd be better off with Apple earbuds, haha/sob)

 

Good luck!

[PeterG]

18 hours ago, firedog said:

It's not obvious at all. 

First, they aren't preventing you from using your ears, they are supplementing what you can still hear on your own.

Second, if they're properly setup, they are mostly amplifying the frequencies you don't hear well, and in the proper amounts for your hearing loss. (At least the frequencies under 8000hz or 10000hz, and most users probably don't have good hearing much above that). Most older people have reduced ability to hear certain frequencies - it means they hear them at reduced volume, not that they don't hear them at all. 

In my case, I can clearly hear mid-high frequencies better with the aids. As far as I can tell, they don't change the character of what I'm hearing, but they do improve my ability to hear what's being reproduced. In fact, I play music at lower volumes with them in, b/c they allow me to hear more of what's there without turning up the volume as a way of compensating for partial hearing loss. 

And most middle aged to older adults have some level of hearing loss. Pretty much none of them (rare exceptions) hear the really high frequencies at all, and lots have reduced abilities in the 8K-17K range. That doesn't mean everyone needs hearing aids, but lets not kid ourselves that we all have golden ears. 

 

And your comment about little amps and speakers also doesn't add up. If it did, all those expensive IEMs would also sound like crap. But even some that cost a small fraction of your hearing aids are regarded as having great hi-fi sound. 

Has it occurred to you that good aids cost so much because it is expensive to properly reproduce sound from such a small device (And be programmable, auto-adjusting, etc.)?

Aids aren't a replacement for a sound system. They aren't trying to reproduce the entire auditory spectrum, and not at volume. They are designed to do a good job with a limited middle part of the spectrum. 

 

I should not have used "obvious" in that way.  I apologize.  To your specific points, I'll just share my experience:

 

I find listening to music incredibly brittle through my very expensive hearing aides, whether in my car or at home.  I just do not enjoy it, I would rather listen to nothing.  Television and news radio are improved.  My hypothesis is that I am inserting amps and speakers not meant for hifi (as you point out) into my chain.  But as with all things hifi, I encourage others to listen to their own systems through their own ears, then decide.

 

I have excellent IEMs--Ultimate Ears 18 (purchased after Chris's rave about his IEMs--thanks!).  But these are even higher priced and much larger than my hearing aides, do not have internal amps, and are designed for hifi.  So I disagree that their success negates my hypothesis.  Though I prefer full headphones at home, I recommend premium IEMs highly for hifi for anyone with the cash.  (Just don't go for a walk with them, you will not hear a sound as the car hits you from behind)  

 

I'm really grateful to live in a world with great hifi and great hearing aides.  But in my experience and with my ears, these circles do not overlap

 

[PeterG]

3 hours ago, firedog said:

I'm thinking that if your experience listening to music is that bad, there is something wrong. Have you talked to your audiologist about it? 

Yes.  Prior to my getting the aides the MD said I'd get used to them.  After getting the aides, the audiologist was not surprised.  Go figure

 

I don't remember all the numbers, but from your post my sense was that your loss is worse than mine.  Maybe I would be more forgiving of the aides if I sensed I was missing more without them?

 

One thing that has crossed my mind is an old school equalizer (which I think still exist on at least one McIntosh amp), especially for headphones, where others' enjoyment of the music would not be impaired and the room would not be relevant.  If a person with hearing loss used the data from his hearing test to set adjustments on the equalizer, would his hearing of the music be "restored"?

[PeterG]

7 hours ago, BlueSkyy said:

Here's an odd one I will never be able to explain:  I fell asleep overnight with a pair of Audeze LCD-XCs on my head at a not unreasonable volume level.  I woke up about eight hours later to the horror of finding the hearing in my left ear was completely dead.  No ringing.  No tinnitus.  Absolutely nothing!  I was scared as hell.  This loss of hearing on the left went on for about two more days then my hearing slowly returned.  A week later I got in and saw an audiologist who could find nothing wrong save the high frequency roll off that I knew was there.  To this day I've no idea what happened to my "brain" for that two day period.

 

Your ear my have been clogged with ear wax that came out or loosened during a hot shower.  (headphones just a coincidence or maybe it was the angle at which you fell asleep) This can happen even to a person who showers every day, it's kind of random for those who produce a good bit of ear wax.  It's happened to be twice over the past 30 years.  The first time was quite scary until I went to the doctor.  The second time I bought some ear drops at CVS