Yo Flying Devil of ILLINOIS: {Chicago was my old home town.}
As for the monitors, the Yorkville YSM-1 passives will do a fine job for the money. There are better monitors out there but I've enjoyed the Yorks -- you can get Yorkville on the net and check out nearest place to look, listen, and buy a pair -- should run about 85 to 95 dollars each.
As for the hearing deficit, maybe you can mix with a musician friend or some gal singer you know. Together you can get things pretty much the way you'd want them.
CANS? My favorite subject. The Beyer 250's run about 130 pezzutos for a set. They do fit a bit tight but loosen up with use. Excellent sound field. Again, CANS are subjective once you get into the high price end. I have SONY cans and AKG cans, but use the Beyers. As well, I have a wireless set of cans,900 Hz that send the signal through walls up to 300 feet from the transmitter.
I like to use these while working on mixing as I can move around with no wires dangling; of course, I set up things listening to the monitors; after that, the cans work out as I turn this on and that off and run the gear.
Happy St. Patrick's Day
Green Hornet
