Not very long ago I spent more money than I want to think about on the latest technology from Siemens. I am very pleased with my "Pure 700 RIC BTE" hearing aids. Each has been individually tuned to enhance those frequencies that one or the other ear is unable to pick up adequately. That's just great - but there's more. These things have 5 channels!
What that means is that the technicians are able to customize each channel to accommodate certain situational needs. For me, Channel 1 is simply the normal setting that is needed for the average situation. Channel 2 is set to the particular pitches of my wife's voice. Channel 3 is set to dampen all but the normal speech frequencies, thus reducing the reception of loud machinery noises while allowing me to hear people talking. My Channel 4 is set to enhance musical sounds, giving a little extra push to the frequencies my hearing lacks, allowing me to hear pretty much the whole range of musical sound. Channel 5 is set for the "Tek wireless enhancement". I can plug in a very small transmitter into the TV or even the stereo, then, by way of an equally small, portable remote control, I can listen to whatever the transmitter broadcasts directly into my hearing aids while nobody else hears anything at all. (My wife really likes this feature. She really doesn't like hearing the TV at all.)

Channels are switched by way of a small button on the aids. The aids are able to "talk to one another" and so one only needs to push the button on one aid to change the channels on both.

The aids, themselves are of the "behind the ear" design. The receivers are fairly small and are colored to more or less blend in with one's hair color. (I believe they have brown, gray or tan.) Small wires extend from the receivers to a small knobby thing that fits into the ear canal. It is really very unobtrusive.

What I like about this set of hearing aides over the ones I used to have is that ambient sound is not entirely blocked by them. There is no more of the "head in the bucket" sort of thing and no more having to guess whether I am singing loud enough or too loud.

Of course, I wish the price weren't so steep. But I couldn't be happier with this technology - especially the ability to switch channels for different situations. My wife definitely appreciates not having to repeat herself so much!