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You've got a couple decades on me, but younger than my parents! That's interesting that your ability to hear improved. I might put off hearing aids mostly because I have iatrophobia and only see Drs if I absolutely need to. I believe the stairstep image is an over-simplification and actual output from most DACs doesn't look like that. This guy explains it in great detail, but pretty much nothing is lost that matters. https://xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml There's other more audible measures that make a bigger difference like frequency response, S/N ratio, THD, wow & flutter, etc. all of which are far superior on digital.

Reading through the conversation of you both, I can say I feel for you & unfortunately there really is no upside to be found. I know everyone responds differently to things, but in the case of hearing loss I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t follow the same basic path. When I say an old fart I mean old fart. 73 & counting & while many don’t think I’m that old, I am. I started with tinnitus when I was 9. Lots of ear infections & to many antibiotics. The hearing continued to decline till I finally had to get hearing aids at 62. The aids I buy are high end & still have never been like having my own hearing. Yes I can hear things better as far as hearing the sound, but the sounds lack realness, hard to explain. But an example would be, that music often sounds sour or if I come in on a song after it starts the hearing is; like slow & I can’t catch up to it to recognize it. Again hard to explain. The other downside is this. From my hearing test @ 62 to now my hearing test have hardly changed, yet my ability to hear without an aid has skyrocketed! Hearing aids make your brain dumb! Literally! Even the audiologist admits that. So my recommendation to you gnat, is put off hearing aids as long as possible. The comment about analog vs digital is true whether you can hear it or not. Analog is a continuous signal, a curve if you will. Digital signals are a stair step wave. In such when you compare the two over top of each other you can see the space between the stair step signal & the continuous curve. That space actually represents a lost signal or lost music. Which actually degrades the sound quality. And before you say it, no! I can no longer hear the differentiation, but it’s still there.