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

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.

At 67 I can still hear the higher notes, it’s the tinnitus after listening that sucks.  Might be speaker induced, too.

Check ot the Widex 440 Series. I did a lot or research when i was lookng for my hearing aids.  It seems like the Widex 440 is used by a lot of musicians.  It has a 10-Band equalizer that the doctor sets up and a three-band equalizer that you can adjust and save the settings. Sound, to me, is very natural. It opened up my music enjoyment again and I cna't be happier.

Attached is a link to a paper that I came across in my research - Hope it helps