Ackshully

I use a £350 pair of noise cancelling Sennheisers, but still find I have to boost loudness to be able to hear what song I'm listening to in a noisy bus or ferry. I bought them for exactly the reason you say.

My point is, we don't all have standardised ears. Audiophiles tend to forget that just because they might be able to hear all the nuances, the majority (including me) can't.