Aging ears and Nuances

I'm 74 and have worn hearing aids for the past 20 years or so; main problem was loss of high-frequencies; being hard-of-hearing runs in the family. As mashif says, our brains 'fill in' missing info, and hearing aids with audiologists setting the EQ, just make it that much easier for my brain to do so. I can even do a little EQ adjustment myself on them. 

Dear Mashif, being a medical specialist in ENT, You are so right! We have a "musical memory". You need to have listened for several years to for example acusic music to learn to rember the special spectrum of frequences that identify each instrument. When you get older and start to loose the upper frequences, your brain only need to hear the caracteristics of a part of the full spectrum of a special instrument to recognise it and fill in the missing frequences. This is natures way of letting us enjoy our music up through our age. Electronic music however can vary in so many ways making it much more difficult to find a special spectrum of freqwuences for the "instrument"to remember.

You also need to deal with these facts when judging the HiFi reviews from eldery experienced HiFi experts. Are they really hearing all frequences or is the brain adding more or less...?

Dear Mashif, being a medical specialist in ENT, You are so right! We have a "musical memory". You need to have listened for several years to for example acusic music to learn to rember the special spectrum of frequences that identify each instrument. When you get older and start to loose the upper frequences, your brain only need to hear the caracteristics of a part of the full spectrum of a special instrument to recognise it and fill in the missing frequences. This is natures way of letting us enjoy our music up through our age. Electronic music however can vary in so many ways making it much more difficult to find a special spectrum of freqwuences for the "instrument"to remember.

You also need to deal with these facts when judging the HiFi reviews from eldery experienced HiFi experts. Are they really hearing all frequences or is the brain adding more or less...?

This is all very interesting and encouraging for a 70 year old with high-frequency hearing loss who wears hearing aids and who just invested in new speakers to be delivered soon. I debated for quite a while while auditioning speakers, wondering if my ears were worth the investment. I decided to they are because I listen a lot and this is great reinforcement. Thanks!

As a 73 year old with hearing aids, I thankfully continue to be able to hear nuances in sound and changes in my system. I recently made 2 seemingly minor changes (moved my router, upgraded my USB cable). Each provided improved clarity, soundstage & micro dynamics. My personal opinion is that many of us can improve our musical enjoyment by investing in high quality hearing aids.