when your hearing is not as good as it was . . .

I am 65  and suffer audiometric notch ,aka "noise notch".

Listening with hearing aids sucks. and I have moderate priced and expensive (widex & oticon).

One of the things that is significant is cupping my hands behind my ears. Its amazing how effective this is. Obviously this is impractical.

But I have often thought about fashioning some contraption like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Dixie-Hear-Cups-Non-Electric-Amplifier/dp/B0794FGGN8/ref=sr_1_5?crid=YA68UTS438YK&keywords=cups+for+ears+hearing+loss&qid=1702334288&sprefix=cups+for+ears+hearing+loss%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-5

Update: I just ordered the cups off the Amazons , couldn’t pass it up they were so cheap.

Mendef, join the party!  I'm 68 and have hi frequency hearing loss as well as tennitus.  I recently added a equalizer to boost the upper end.  I also play my music louder than 'normal'.  It helps.  I can not hear crickets, tree frogs, birds chirping.  But, I can tell the difference between SS and tubes, as well as digital (CD) vs HQ vinyl, so all is not lost.  Keep the faith!

I’m 64 and I can directly attribute my hearing loss to one specific concert, a great garage band by the name of Netherworld when they played at a community college campus in Los Gatos CA.   Anyway, I love music.   Don’t lose heart.   I equalize to gently elevate the higher frequencies that I don’t hear as well.   That’s the key for me.   I’m not deaf, just don’t hear the high frequencies as well.   So, boost them.

YMMV, but it works for me.

I have been tested and certain upper frequencies not quite as sharp as it once was 

a bit rolled off on tip like hearing a cymbal fade instead of 4 times 3,

and even  certain parts of the midrange,, midBass not so much , That  being said 

better audio equipment for sure helps especially the dac and cabling to give it That extra definition .

It’s normal to loose ability to hear higher frequencies with age. The good news is 10 kHz and above is mainly where “air” occurs in music meaning cymbals lose their sheen and sparkle, etc but most music occurs well below that frequency. On the plus side a lot of noise and distortion that can make listening fatiguing also occurs at those higher frequencies so older ears will naturally filter that out.

Other than that, what one hears or not and what differences can be discerned or even matter will vary case by case. A hearing test is really the only way to know. The good news is that once does know and up to a certain point equalization might be applied to compensate. Modern Digital Signal Processing for example like that included in Roon streaming makes applying equalization for a variety of purposes easier than ever.