I've always been conscious of how loud I listen. Even before I got into audio. Probably because my old man is hearing impaired (ear infection as a child) and I never want to have to deal with that problem when I'm older. I wear my Etys whenever I'm out. Never listen at more than casual levels (<80dB). Hopefully I can keep my hearing for a long while.

My father got a cochlear implant last month. Reading up on the tech is pretty interesting. They basically carve the thing into your skull but it's not noticeable (until you get the magnet which sits over it). He's going to get it activated this week actually.  In terms of bandwidth it's pretty good (300Hz to 8kHz they claim). However it's supposed to sound "broken" and "robotic" because the implants are ultimately limited by the number of electrodes they can stuff in the cochlea. He has to go through a whole deal of hearing therapy before the device becomes really usable.

Not sure why I would want to be able to tune into Wi-Fi traffic though. But hearing colors might cool. So long as I could turn it off 

Thanks for sharing that sixx, that was a good listen. 

We are not that far from the future...

The loudest sounds I heard regularly that I felt hurt my hearing were all related to my commute on public transit.

I find the idea of someone 'hacking' my hearing scary. A medical implementation to improve one's hearing is helpful at the same time, that is true.