And here we have a test dummy, in the person of me. I gave it the full test by spending twenty years in front of a loud amp as a lead guitarist. I do have ear damage, I hear ringing all of the time, but I can tune it out most of the time. However, my hearing was better than average to begin with, and it still is. Not to say I haven't lost something, but as someone else guessed, having more to begin with means having more to lose without serious loss. I don't know how much I've lost, but I can still hear well.