The first place to turn may be someone like Andy Wallace,
who at 62 years of age is still mixing huge and great sounding records.
Between sitting in front of speakers all day for 30+ years, and
physical age he cannot be in tip-top hearing, yet you listen to one of
his mixes and you would never know the difference.
I even know one producer that I can not out by name, that is fully deaf
in one ear yet still booked 5 days a week for upwards of $500 a day! If
this is the case, why is a 99 cent iPhone app causing audio professionals around the world to shake in their shoes? Audiometry
is an app for the iPhone that will help test your hearing (please do not
do this using ear buds), though from what I have seen and heard around
my circles of knowledge, for many their ignorance is their bliss. Now
obviously, we all want our hearing to be as good as it possibly can for
our line of work, however small amounts of damage do not hinder your
listening ability half as much as not trying hard, and learning the
language of how to manipulate what comes through the speakers. It is
about listening and the decisions you make from the way you hear
things, not what you’re hearing actually looks like on a graph.