Boosting the treble, or not

[silvestrione]

I'm losing the upper regions of my hearing, common of course amongst older people, but slightly worse in my case because of a condition I needn't go into. I notice, particularly on recent orchestral recordings with reduced string sound, that I am in danger of losing too much of that string sound, e.g. in Rattle/BPO Beethoven 9 slow movement, the highly ornamented variation of the first theme. I assume it's not Rattle's choice, or just a poor recording, that means I hear everything else much more clearly and dominatingly than the ecstatic string elaborations.

I have good equipment, if not fully audiophile, but none of it offers any means to boost the treble. Would that be a possibility still with new equipment? Would it be a an amplifier, if anything, that would offer that? Would it be a good idea, or just interfere with the quality of the performance/recording?

I'd be very grateful for some thoughts from the very knowledgeable people on this forum!

[Stunsworth]

You used to be able to buy graphical equalisers that sat in the tape loop. Maybe something like that from eBay?

[LeMartinPecheur]

You used to be able to buy graphical equalisers that sat in the tape loop. Maybe something like that from eBay?

Saw a rather old graphic equaliser in a local s/h shop the other day - they wanted £45 for it! Not that I'd have been tempted even at 45p!

Amazon still list a fair few though https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=graphic...f=nb_sb_noss_1

[gradus]

I use the tone controls on my elderly Quad 44 to add a little brightness which to me (vintage '45) sounds more natural on many recordings.

[Tony Halstead]

I use the tone controls on my elderly Quad 44 to add a little brightness which to me (vintage '45) sounds more natural on many recordings.

[jayne lee wilson]

I'm losing the upper regions of my hearing, common of course amongst older people, but slightly worse in my case because of a condition I needn't go into. I notice, particularly on recent orchestral recordings with reduced string sound, that I am in danger of losing too much of that string sound, e.g. in Rattle/BPO Beethoven 9 slow movement, the highly ornamented variation of the first theme. I assume it's not Rattle's choice, or just a poor recording, that means I hear everything else much more clearly and dominatingly than the ecstatic string elaborations.

I have good equipment, if not fully audiophile, but none of it offers any means to boost the treble. Would that be a possibility still with new equipment? Would it be a an amplifier, if anything, that would offer that? Would it be a good idea, or just interfere with the quality of the performance/recording?

I'd be very grateful for some thoughts from the very knowledgeable people on this forum!

Many amps do still offer tone-controls...but as ever in these situations, it comes down to:

1) what you've got.
2) how much you want to spend to achieve your aim.

If you don't want to buy replacement amplification, a new pre-amp could be the easiest approach (should sound better than Equalisers too), but only if your present one can then function as a power amp. Even if it is an integrated model, this may well be possible - check connections. You'd need to ask dealers about the tone-control functions - some offer very simple cut/boost (which may not help much) others (like the famous old Quad 44 aforementioned) offer more sophisticated adjustments.
If you have mainly CD/digital playback, a new DAC with pre-amp functions could offer tone controls AND potentially improve your sound overall...

Plenty of these around at all price levels, but you'd need to check their functionality of course...
Yes you could whack in an equaliser (most of these will do more than you'll ever need and probably will compromise Sound Quality, so make sure it's on SOR!), it may work, but do consider a bit of system-planning too...

Perhaps email a few local HiFi dealers, ask if they had any requests about this before..?
I have read of hearing aids becoming better at sophisticated adjustments dealing with music (rather than speech) - but I guess you looked into that, and many are still very expensive...

[richardfinegold]

I don't know much about them, but you may want to investigate Supertweeters, which can be added on to conventional speakers to enhance treble response. Whether or not you will hear this is another story....if you truly have a significant high frequency cut off, I am not sure that any enhancement to your system will be perceived

[Dave2002]

Would it not make sense to go and hear a few high quality systems at dealers first, and see if you can hear any improvements?
Another possibility is to go to one or two live concerts, and see if you still any sort of "thrill". Sadly if your hearing really is damaged, then there might be little point in trying to compensate too much, and I suspect it's also possible that you'd accelerate any further daterioration.

However, if you can hear a difference, then it could be worth spending a fairly substantial sum to get newer and improved equipment in the hope of getting more enjoyment out of your CDs and other media. That might be a better option than trying to put any form of booster into your currrent set up.

[silvestrione]

Would it not make sense to go and hear a few high quality systems at dealers first, and see if you can hear any improvements?
Another possibility is to go to one or two live concerts, and see if you still any sort of "thrill". Sadly if your hearing really is damaged, then there might be little point in trying to compensate too much, and I suspect it's also possible that you'd accelerate any further daterioration.

However, if you can hear a difference, then it could be worth spending a fairly substantial sum to get newer and improved equipment in the hope of getting more enjoyment out of your CDs and other media. That might be a better option than trying to put any form of booster into your currrent set up.

Thanks for replies. I may have exaggerated the problem. Concerts are still fine, though where I sit is even more important these days.

It may be that not much can be done, but the obvious thing, yes, is to go and try out some new equipment. Hearing aids and music just don't seem to go together, in my experience, but I gather you can spend up to £5000 on more sophisticated ones! I'm not going to do that I'm afraid.

[rauschwerk]

Hearing aids and music just don't seem to go together, in my experience, but I gather you can spend up to £5000 on more sophisticated ones! I'm not going to do that I'm afraid.

Hearing aids designed for speech do indeed mess up music by altering frequencies, but it might be worth finding out how much you need to pay for a device with a music setting. I'm sure it would be well short of £5k, though no doubt more expensive than a bolt-on goody for your audio system.

[richardfinegold]

My understanding is that hearing aids are starting to be more reasonable in price. Here the big box retailer Costco is known to sell the latest models from Etymotic Research for under a thousand dollars

[MrGongGong]

Some folks might find this interesting

http://auraldiversity.org

[Beresford]

I know a few people in their seventies who are sonically challenged, especially in the treble, who find listening to music much more satisfactory using headphones, preferably ones costing over £100.
I'm just approaching that stage myself, but I'm very reluctant to give up the loudspeaker experience. So I would be interested in other member's views on this, and any suggested headphones, preferably wireless.