Harmonium Hero, you are right. Age has bugger-all to do with it.

My mother had her hearing checked at age 75. When the audiologist was finished, he called a student in and said, "This is Mrs. ****. Mrs. **** has the best hearing of anyone I have ever tested."

Why? My mother never worked in a factory, rode in an airplane once, and did not attend rock concerts. There was no amplification (hence, no feedback) at our church, and we kids never played our stereo loud.
Her hearing was protected from the modern age.

I inherited her kind of hearing. Lord, I wish I could have it back again.
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Somebody upthread said musicians' hearing plugs are cheap. Say what? Mine were custom made, and the set cost $350. I never got to try them, because they box they came in a box that resembled a jeweler's box, and somebody stole them.

I carry ear "plugs" almost everywhere I go. I like the soft waxy kind, (Mack's) which I mold and press over the ear opening. They are great on airplanes, on subways, in traffic, etc. They can be bought in an ordinary drugstore.

If I think a concert will be too loud (piccolo - grrr!) I use them to block sound but not to seal off my ear opening completely.

On long plane flights I seal off my ears then put headphones right over them and listen to good music. The music has to be high, though. Flute, violin, dulcimer, sopranos come right through, but cellos, bass viols, are blocked. Try it; you'll like it.

It's been a long time since I went to a folk concert indoors. Back when we had bands and sound men, it was so loud that sound hit the walls and came back, muddying everything. Speech was usually undecipherable.