Ah, I forgot to say.
With headphones, I personally keep the volume as low as I can get it before it becomes too soft to hear anything. Nuance is lost, but I do this with songs I've listened to over and over again... my brain reconstructs what it's supposed to sound like, and my hearing remains relatively unaffected.
I absolutely cannot listen to even moderate-level music for more than a few seconds. Am I the only person under 25 like this??