Hello and welcome, David1959. Yes, I’m in UK too and I agree with you there’s nothing home-grown to approach the quality of this Hearing Tracker forum. Real user experiences.
Music is One Huge Issue! NHS audiologists, perhaps private as well, typically receive little to no training in fitting for music. The mantra is speech-in-noise.
I took a teaching college to task about that - and got a very nice response from the senior audio professor who actually agreed, and said they’d revisit curriculum.
So… the thing is to politely check out your audiologist. Make it clear that music really matters to you - and don’t let the conversation default straight to Bluetooth etc. As a performing musician you’ll be able to judge whether the individual is supportive of live music, or would rather not go there.
The first HA to really address my high-end hearing loss with acceptable fidelity was the now obsolete Phonak Naida-S, a pair of them. Speech was clear, the frequency-shifting helped discriminate between essess and effs… but… that clever stuff destroyed music. Instruments sounded out of tune, and middle pitches warbled. So the audiologist agreed to turn off the clever processing. He warned I would get more frequent whistling, and I did, but I became able to enjoy music, both live (I play piano) and loudspeakered.
I’m now fitted with a slightly less old pair of NHS Phonaks, M70, by a wonderful audiologist.
She didn’t just measure using tones, she talked, listened, invited me to play a chord or two on my own little keyboard. Wonderful result - I stepped out onto Exeter high street hearing chatter, street musicians, the buses…
There can be feedback if I turn up volume to hear quiet things (how much always depends on the individual of course and earmould fit) - but I know I can, on these more recent aids, have a speech/music toggle activated. Very likely will go back and request that. Bear in mind - this option might not be offered to you unless you ask!
Mobiles can be pretty clear, Apple laptops very good indeed. As for hearing TV: most sets and even soundbars produce dreadful sound. Poor speakers, pointing downwards, and the origination less carefully miked up than it used to be. Plus too much ‘mood music’. I was trained to work in BBC-tv sound production, and now find myself shouting at the set! Best of luck in your quest.