Mild-moderate losses show recruitment while severe-profound losses show underrecruitment

Evidence

To summarize, listeners with mildmoderate hearing losses typically experience loudness recruitment, in which the loudness of sounds tends to grow more rapidly than for listeners with normal hearing. Yet, sensorineural hearing loss is not typically associated with abnormal loudness discomfort levels. On the other hand, listeners with severe-to-profound losses can experience underrecruitment and may perceive all sounds as being relatively soft compared with the perception of listeners with normal hearing and mild-moderate losses. — Jennifer Lentz, Psychoacoustics- Perception of Normal…, 856