The invention relates to a system and a method for configuring a hearing device by means of an external configuration unit, the hearing device comprising a microphone, an A / D-converter, a processing unit with a memory, a D / A-converter and a receiver, the external configuration unit comprising a programming host, an external processing unit, an interface and a playing device, the method including the steps of processing a sound recording from the playing device with a parameter setting externally, feeding the processed sound recording to the receiver of the hearing device via the interface and the D / A-converter, emitting the processed sound recording through the receiver, repeating steps a) to c) with varying parameter settings until a match between the quality of the signal and the requirements of the user is reached, and transmitting and storing the chosen parameter setting in the memory of the hearing device.