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Comment by prongletown | Hacker News Reader

I have moderate hearing damage in one of my ears, mostly in the midrange according to audio graphs. Too many raves without hearing protection.

I have lost the ability to hear people in bars, or the 200sqft tile room where the elevators are at work, or when people are holding multiple conversations in a conference room.

I'm fortunate that I was able to identify the problem and prevent it from getting worse. It's amazing how just a small amount of missing information has effectively broken the "noise canceling and directional isolation" "software" of my brain.

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This will sound paradoxical but... Wearing earplugs can really help.

Hearing loss isnt so much an inability to hear "quiet" (despite how hearing tests are performed) as it is a los of dynamic range. By wearing earplugs you can lower the volume of all conversations and prevent "clipping", so to speak.

Try it! Next time you're having trouble hearing someone try to plug your ears with your fingers.

I want to know if that worked out for the parent!

An older guy from the rave scene once taught me this without explaining the process at all.

When we'd be out and loud music was playing and somebody couldn't hear what he was saying to them, he'd lean in, speak more softly and place a finger lightly on the front part of their ear (so as to not put his finger in their ear).

He was always much easier to understand one he had done that, and we all picked up the habit. We weren't sure if the finger acted as a conductor, or what the explanation was, but reducing the dynamic range seems like a really good explanation.

I actually do. I have a couple of different silicone plugs with different capabilities, including hifi, low att, etc.

They work, but it's annoying wearing them in all the time. I also have Sony XM3 adjusted to reduce most (not full) noise with anc and that helps quite a bit as well.

I have big problems understanding conversations in bars or larger groups where other people seem to be able to follow without problems. But based overt hearing test I have taken my hearing is actually very good, way better than average. I believe that somehow my brain doesn’t assemble the input correctly so even though the right signals are there I am not using them.

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