Digital hearing aids convert sound waves into digital code, allowing them to process and manipulate sounds in complex ways before converting back to analog, while analog hearing aids amplify sounds as they are. Both can be programmed but digital offers more controls and features through their ability to manipulate digital sound. While digital generally offers more advanced sound quality options, the choice between analog and digital comes down to individual preference and cost considerations, as analog devices remain less expensive.

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COMPARING ANALOG VERSUS DIGITAL HEARING AIDS
When trying to fully understand the difference between analog and digital hearing aids, it is
important to first appreciate the history of analog vs. digital, and the different ways that
they process and amplify sounds. Analog hearing aids came out first, and were the norm
in the majority of hearing aids for a long time. Then with the introduction of digital signal
processing (DSP) technology, digital hearing aids also started to appear. At the moment,
most (90%) of the hearing aids sold in the United States are digital, although analog
hearing aids are still sold because they’re often less expensive, and because some people
prefer them.
Analog hearing aids handle incoming
sounds by taking the electrical sound
waves as they emerge from a microphone
and amplifying them “as is” before sending
them to the speakers in your ears. Digital
hearing aids take the sound waves from
the microphone and convert them to digital
binary code. After the sound is digitized,
the microchip within the hearing aid can
process and manipulate the information in
complex ways before transforming it back
into analog sound and delivering it to your
ears.
Analog and digital hearing aids perform the same function – they take sounds and boost
them to allow you to hear better. Both analog and digital hearing aids can be
programmable, meaning that they contain microchips, which can be customized to adjust
sound quality to suit the individual user, and to create various configurations for different
environments. For example, there might be distinct settings for low-noise rooms like
libraries, for busy restaurants, and for outdoor spaces like stadiums.
But beyond programmability, the digital hearing aids generally offer more controls to the
user, and offer more features because of their capacity to manipulate the sounds in digital
form. They have an array of memories in which to save more location-specific settings

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than analog hearing aids. They can also use advanced rules to detect and
minimize background noise, to eliminate feedback and whistling, or to
selectively detect the sound of human voices and “follow” them using directional
microphones.
In terms of price, analog hearing aids are generally less expensive, although some digital
hearing aids are nearing the price of analog devices by removing the more advanced
features. Hearing aid wearers do notice a difference in the sound quality generated by
analog versus digital hearing aids, but that is largely a matter of preference, not really a
matter of whether analog or digital is “better.”