[JohnBooty]

Yeah, my hearing's not the best and I really just cannot hear what people are saying half of the time. It's like... everybody's struggling to hear each other, but I really cannot hear. I just can't do those kinds of spaces, at least not if I want to have a conversation.

[tass]

Visit an audiologist for a test. I recently had a hearing test for the reason you described and was told there were no problems.

I started to ask people if they could actually hear or understand while with them at a loud place and many told me they couldn’t - they were mostly pretending to understand after eventually giving up.

[ajb]

I can't hear in such places without these: https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/hearing-protection/er20xs-... They don't improve the signal, obviously, but your ears just don't get tired in the same way, so you can make out what people are saying - just about.

[saiya-jin]

Test your hearing on higher frequencies, those are usually the first lost when hearing degrades. Normal headphones/loudspeakers can go way higher than people can hear, so you can do basic test yourself.

I have something similar - normal conversations are OK, but in loud environment it becomes very hard. Its not great to be the only one in group who doesn't understand what others are saying. I blew my hearing probably in front rows on metal concerts.

[JohnBooty]

(I realize that online hearing tests aren't reliable, but they would have false positives, not false negatives)

Frustratingly, I've done those online hearing tests which test your ability to hear human voices amidst background noise and they tell me I have no hearing loss.

However, my hearing cuts out around 9khz, which is low. Definitely not my listening equipment because my wife can hear >9khz just fine on the same gear.

[justinph]

Might be worth looking into hearing aids. I have the same thing and got hearing aids, which help an immense amount.

[JohnBooty]

Definitely in my future, I think! Perhaps my present, as well...