All of them are capable of being modified electroacoustically in any number of creative ways. Given the high degree of competitiveness in this area, we can expect to see additional features periodically introduced by manufacturers. This represents quite a technological feat and one in which hearing aid companies may justly take pride. Right now, in terms of the currently available research the jury is still out. As I read through the articles in this special issue of The Hearing Journal, I could sense a bit of unease from the authors about the paucity of clinical studies attesting to and supporting the objective superiority of digital hearing aids.
Nobody doubts their technical sophistication, or the fact that they are first-rate instruments.
Nobody currently using a digital hearing aid need fear that they have been fit with an inferior instrument. There is an implication of universal applicability and assured superiority that has not yet been convincingly demonstrated in careful, comparative research. Considering the pace of recent developments, it is quite likely that digital hearing aids may soon include such features as the elimination of acoustic feedback, superior binaural listening, better hearing in different types of noise, and enhanced speech feature processing. In the meantime, however, we have to deal with what is available now. These studies seemed so provocative that I contacted her directly to make sure that I had my facts right.