Wall Street Journal columnist Terry Teachout writes in The Deaf Audiophile that while iPods and MP3 players don’t deliver a highest-quality music sound, it doesn’t matter to him. As we get older we lose the ability to hear the difference. So now he enjoys the convenience of the new devices without worrying about what he can’t hear, such as the higher frequencies.
That’s why I’m more than content to listen to “The Rite of Spring” on my trusty iPod. Would that my presbycusic ears were capable of distinguishing between great and good sound — but at least they still know the infinitely more important difference between sound and silence.