Phew. This doesn't have a simple answer.
I can compare hearing aids Vs Cochlear Implant, and even then, I haven't given the CI a fair shot for listening to music. I still need to re-train my brain for music. The first few times I've tried listening to music with the CI directly hooked into an ipod, all my favorite songs were unrecognizable and irritating noises. That could simply mean I have terrible taste in music!
What I ended up doing was I'd listen to music at work before the store would open to the public. After a few months passed, I was better able to recognize my favorite songs once again. I could detect more of the musical sounds, but they weren't the memories I formed of my music collection. The songs were tolerable, but not preferred.
Some more time passed and I stopped hooking up the music directly and went back to earbuds. I liked the earbuds because it felt like I had three ears. I could simultaneously listen to music and talk to someone. I believe one reason why it's not as enjoyable to directly connect to my CI is because I'm not able to tune out the rest of the world. (But I can separate the sounds with earbuds + wearing CI at same time because the sounds are coming from two entirely different pathways to my brain). You can get MAPPed for listening to music, but I've only gone to a couple of MAPPing appointments. It's on my to-do list now that I have health insurance again.
What I can definitely compare is I was able to catch more of the higher pitch music that was previously drowned by the other sounds in the songs, or by the environment I was in. For example, in restaurants, I was previously unable to detect the music. The restaurants were loud and I was unable to separate people talking from the music. I loathed going to restaurants and wearing a hearing aid. I'd end up with a headache from the noise. Nowadays, I can usually detect there is music playing in restaurants, but I'm still unable to tell you what the song is, or even what type of music. This doesn't mean I enjoy the music in stores or restaurants, but they are more tolerable than it used to be because I can recognize it isn't static-like noise.
Your question reminded me that not only do I need to try re-training my brain to listen to spoken words, but also to directly hooking up my music to my CI. Back then I found my music irritating, but now I'm seeing it as a more fascinating process to compare differences. In particular I'll need to compare classical music. With earbuds, I hate classical music. It's just screeching noise, but perhaps it'll be soothing when directly hooked to my CI? I'll have to test that out soon.
Because the surgery didn't eliminate my residual hearing, I can still listen to my music using specific earbud styles and positioning in my ears. Apple's classic earbuds work fantastic for me. Their new style in comparison is useless. Recently, I tried experimenting by listening to music while wearing my CI using the different headphones at the Apple store. Although I was able to hear the music, they were too muffled for me to considering switching to headphones. If I'm going to listen to music, I want it to be "loud" (loud to everyone else, but medium level for me).
I can listen to a CD while driving a vehicle, but the volume is roughly the same as hearing aids--Why is this? It's because I haven't learned how to tune out other noises. When I drive, all I can hear are the traffic noises, so the music needs to be loud enough to overcome that noise barrier. If I could tune out other sounds, then I'd say the CI has a better amplification and processing system. A hearing aid is only an amplification system. I highly prefer listening to music with my earbuds, not the car's stereo system! I'm sure the other drivers on the road would prefer it as well.
The pictures attached shows how I must position earbuds in order to maximize sound going into my ear, and how the CI directly connects to an Ipod.
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