<PAGE>   1
         As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March ___, 1998
                                                 Registration No. 333-__________
================================================================================
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
                               ------------------

                                    FORM S-8
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                         ------------------------------

                               RESOUND CORPORATION
             (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
                         ------------------------------

               CALIFORNIA                                      77-0019588
      (State or other jurisdiction                          (I.R.S. Employer
    of incorporation or organization)                    Identification Number)
                         ------------------------------

                                220 SAGINAW DRIVE
                                 SEAPORT CENTRE
                         REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA 94063
                                 (650) 780-7800

  (Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of
                   Registrant's principal executive offices)
                         ------------------------------

                        1998 EXECUTIVE STOCK OPTION PLAN
                            (Full title of the plan)
                         ------------------------------

                                 RUSSELL D. HAYS
                      President and Chief Executive Officer
                               ReSound Corporation
                                220 Saginaw Drive
                                 Seaport Centre
                         Redwood City, California 94063
                                 (650) 780-7800

       (Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including
                        area code, of agent for service)
                         ------------------------------

                                   Copies to:
                                 ELIAS J. BLAWIE
                                 LAURA A. GORDON
                                VENTURE LAW GROUP
                           A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
                               2800 SAND HILL ROAD
                          MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA 94025
                                 (650) 854-4488

               (Calculation of Registration Fee on following page)
================================================================================



<PAGE>   2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                         Proposed      Proposed
                                          Maximum         Maximum       Maximum      Amount of
                                        Amount to be  Offering Price   Aggregate    Registration
Title of Securities to be Registered   Registered(1)    Per Share    Offering Price    Fee
-------------------------------------- --------------- ------------- -------------- ------------
<S>                                       <C>           <C>          <C>            <C>       
1998 EXECUTIVE STOCK OPTION PLAN
  Common Stock,
  $0.01 par value...................      412,663       $5.875(2)    $2,424,395     $715.20
</TABLE>



----------
(1)     This Registration Statement shall also cover any additional shares of
        Common Stock which become issuable under the Plan being registered
        pursuant to this Registration Statement by reason of any stock dividend,
        stock split, recapitalization or any other similar transaction effected
        without the receipt of consideration which results in an increase in the
        number of the Registrant's outstanding shares of Common Stock.

(2)     Estimated in accordance with Rule 457(h) under the Securities Act of
        1933 (the "Securities Act") solely for the purpose of calculating the
        registration fee. The computation is based upon the average high and low
        sale prices of the Registrant's Common Stock as reported on the Nasdaq
        National Market on March 19, 1998.



                                      -2-
<PAGE>   3

                                     PART II
               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.        INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

        The following documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") are hereby incorporated by reference:

        (a)    The Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 1997 pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), which contains audited financial
statements for the Registrant's latest fiscal year for which such statements
have been filed.

        (b)    All other reports filed pursuant to Section 12(a) or 15(d) of the
Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Annual Report
referred to in (a) above.

        (c)    Items 1 and 2 of the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form
8-A filed on July 7, 1994 pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act. Also Items
1 and 2 of the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on March 3,
1993 pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act.

        All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have
been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be
deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be
part hereof from the date of filing such documents.

Item 4.        DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.  Not applicable.

Item 5.        INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.  Not applicable.

Item 6.        INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

        The Registrant's Articles of Incorporation reduce the liability of a
director to the corporation or its shareholders for monetary damages for
breaches of his or her fiduciary duty of care to the fullest extent permissible
under California law. The Bylaws of the Registrant further provide for
indemnification of corporate agents to the maximum extent permitted by the
California General Corporation Law. In addition, the Registrant has entered into
Indemnification Agreements with its officers and directors.

Item 7.        EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.  Not applicable.

Item 8.        EXHIBITS.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                  Exhibit
                  Number
                  ------
<S>                         <C>
                  5.1       Opinion of Venture Law Group, A Professional Corporation
                  23.1      Consent of Venture Law Group, A Professional Corporation
                            (included in Exhibit 5.1)
                  23.2      Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors
                  24.1      Power of Attorney (see p. 6)
</TABLE>


Item 9.        UNDERTAKINGS.



                                       -3-
<PAGE>   4

        The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

               (1) to file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement to include any
material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously
disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such
information in the registration statement.

               (2) that, for purposes of determining any liability under the
Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new
registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

               (3) to remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

        The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement
shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities
offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be
deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

        Insofar as the indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for
indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the Registrant in a successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered hereunder, the Registrant will,
unless in the opinion of its counsel the question has already been settled by
controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the
question of whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as
expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication
of such issue.



                            [Signature Pages Follow]



                                      -4-

<PAGE>   5
                                   SIGNATURES


        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the
Registrant, ReSound Corporation, a corporation organized and existing under the
laws of the State of California, certifies that it has reasonable grounds to
believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has
duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Redwood City, State of
California, on March 25, 1998.

                                     ReSound Corporation


                                     By:    /s/ Russell D. Hays
                                            ------------------------------------
                                            Russell D. Hays
                                            President, Chief Executive Officer



                                      -5-

<PAGE>   6
                                      POWER OF ATTORNEY

        KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Russell D. Hays and Arthur Taylor,
jointly and severally, his or her attorneys-in-fact and agents, each with the
power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name,
place or stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any amendments to this
Registration Statement on Form S-8, and to file such amendments, together with
exhibits and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, granting to each attorney-in-fact and agent, full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary
to be done in and about the premises, as fully as he or she might or could do in
person, and ratifying and confirming all that the attorney-in-facts and agents,
or his or her substitute or substitutes, may do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.


<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
           Signature                             Title                         Date
           ---------                             -----                         ----

<S>                               <C>                                    <C>
/s/Russell D. Hays                President, Chief Executive Officer     March 25, 1998
-----------------------------       and Director (Principal
Russell D. Hays                     Executive Officer)     


/s/Arthur Taylor                  Vice President, Finance and Chief      March 25, 1998
-----------------------------       Financial Officer (Principal     
Arthur Taylor                       Financial and Accounting Officer)


/s/Richard L. Goode               Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Richard L. Goode


/s/Donald M. Kendall              Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Donald M. Kendall


/s/Eugene Kleiner                 Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Eugene Kleiner


/s/Rodney Perkins, M.D.           Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Rodney Perkins, M.D.


/s/Peter Riepenhausen             Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Peter Riepenhausen


/s/Philip S. Schlein              Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Philip S. Schlein

                                  Director                               March   , 1998
-----------------------------
Robert C. Wilson
</TABLE>



                                      -6-
<PAGE>   7

                                INDEX TO EXHIBITS


<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
  Exhibit
  Number
  ------
<S>        <C>
   5.1     Opinion of Venture Law Group, A Professional Corporation
   23.1    Consent of Venture Law Group, A Professional Corporation
           (included in Exhibit 5.1)

   23.2    Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors

   24.1    Powers of Attorney (see p. 6)
</TABLE>
[{"type": "S-8", "sequence": "1", "description": "FORM S-8", "secsgml_size_bytes": 14566}]
{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "RESOUND CORP", "cik": "0000846463", "assigned-sic": "3842", "irs-number": "770019588", "state-of-incorporation": "CA", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-48695", "film-number": "98574197"}, "business-address": {"street1": "220 SAGINAW DR", "street2": "SEAPORT CENTRE", "city": "REDWOOD CITY", "state": "CA", "zip": "94063", "phone": "8005824327"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "220 SAGINAW DRIVE", "street2": "SEAPORT CENTRE", "city": "REDWOOD CITY", "state": "CA", "zip": "94063"}}
1
         As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March ___, 1998
                                                 Registration No. 333-__________
================================================================================
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
                               ------------------

                                    FORM S-8
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                         ------------------------------

                               RESOUND CORPORATION
             (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
                         ------------------------------

               CALIFORNIA                                      77-0019588
      (State or other jurisdiction                          (I.R.S. Employer
    of incorporation or organization)                    Identification Number)
                         ------------------------------

                                220 SAGINAW DRIVE
                                 SEAPORT CENTRE
                         REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA 94063
                                 (650) 780-7800

  (Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of
                   Registrant's principal executive offices)
                         ------------------------------

                        1998 EXECUTIVE STOCK OPTION PLAN
                            (Full title of the plan)
                         ------------------------------

                                 RUSSELL D. HAYS
                      President and Chief Executive Officer
                               ReSound Corporation
                                220 Saginaw Drive
                                 Seaport Centre
                         Redwood City, California 94063
                                 (650) 780-7800

       (Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including
                        area code, of agent for service)
                         ------------------------------

                                   Copies to:
                                 ELIAS J. BLAWIE
                                 LAURA A. GORDON
                                VENTURE LAW GROUP
                           A PROFESSIONAL CORPORATION
                               2800 SAND HILL ROAD
                          MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA 94025
                                 (650) 854-4488

               (Calculation of Registration Fee on following page)
================================================================================
2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proposed      Proposed
                                          Maximum         Maximum       Maximum      Amount of
                                        Amount to be  Offering Price   Aggregate    Registration
Title of Securities to be Registered   Registered(1)    Per Share    Offering Price    Fee
-------------------------------------- --------------- ------------- -------------- ------------
1998 EXECUTIVE STOCK OPTION PLAN
  Common Stock,
  $0.01 par value...................      412,663       $5.875(2)    $2,424,395     $715.20
----------
(1)     This Registration Statement shall also cover any additional shares of
        Common Stock which become issuable under the Plan being registered
        pursuant to this Registration Statement by reason of any stock dividend,
        stock split, recapitalization or any other similar transaction effected
        without the receipt of consideration which results in an increase in the
        number of the Registrant's outstanding shares of Common Stock.

(2)     Estimated in accordance with Rule 457(h) under the Securities Act of
        1933 (the "Securities Act") solely for the purpose of calculating the
        registration fee. The computation is based upon the average high and low
        sale prices of the Registrant's Common Stock as reported on the Nasdaq
        National Market on March 19, 1998.

                                      -2-
3

                                     PART II
               INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3.        INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE.

        The following documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "Commission") are hereby incorporated by reference:

        (a)    The Registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 1997 pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), which contains audited financial
statements for the Registrant's latest fiscal year for which such statements
have been filed.

        (b)    All other reports filed pursuant to Section 12(a) or 15(d) of the
Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Annual Report
referred to in (a) above.

        (c)    Items 1 and 2 of the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form
8-A filed on July 7, 1994 pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act. Also Items
1 and 2 of the Registrant's Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on March 3,
1993 pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act.

        All documents subsequently filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections
13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a
post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have
been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be
deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be
part hereof from the date of filing such documents.

Item 4.        DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES.  Not applicable.

Item 5.        INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL.  Not applicable.

Item 6.        INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.

        The Registrant's Articles of Incorporation reduce the liability of a
director to the corporation or its shareholders for monetary damages for
breaches of his or her fiduciary duty of care to the fullest extent permissible
under California law. The Bylaws of the Registrant further provide for
indemnification of corporate agents to the maximum extent permitted by the
California General Corporation Law. In addition, the Registrant has entered into
Indemnification Agreements with its officers and directors.

Item 7.        EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED.  Not applicable.

Item 8.        EXHIBITS.
Exhibit
                  Number
                  ------
5.1       Opinion of Venture Law Group, A Professional Corporation
                  23.1      Consent of Venture Law Group, A Professional Corporation
                            (included in Exhibit 5.1)
                  23.2      Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors
                  24.1      Power of Attorney (see p. 6)
Item 9.        UNDERTAKINGS.

                                       -3-
4

        The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

               (1) to file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement to include any
material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously
disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such
information in the registration statement.

               (2) that, for purposes of determining any liability under the
Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new
registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the
offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona
fide offering thereof.

               (3) to remove from registration by means of a post-effective
amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
termination of the offering.

        The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of
determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the
Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the
Exchange Act that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement
shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities
offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be
deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

        Insofar as the indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the
Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange
Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for
indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the
Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling
person of the Registrant in a successful defense of any action, suit or
proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in
connection with the securities being registered hereunder, the Registrant will,
unless in the opinion of its counsel the question has already been settled by
controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the
question of whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as
expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication
of such issue.

                            [Signature Pages Follow]

                                      -4-
5
                                   SIGNATURES

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the
Registrant, ReSound Corporation, a corporation organized and existing under the
laws of the State of California, certifies that it has reasonable grounds to
believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has
duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Redwood City, State of
California, on March 25, 1998.

                                     ReSound Corporation

                                     By:    /s/ Russell D. Hays
                                            ------------------------------------
                                            Russell D. Hays
                                            President, Chief Executive Officer

                                      -5-
6
                                      POWER OF ATTORNEY

        KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Russell D. Hays and Arthur Taylor,
jointly and severally, his or her attorneys-in-fact and agents, each with the
power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name,
place or stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any amendments to this
Registration Statement on Form S-8, and to file such amendments, together with
exhibits and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, granting to each attorney-in-fact and agent, full power and
authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary
to be done in and about the premises, as fully as he or she might or could do in
person, and ratifying and confirming all that the attorney-in-facts and agents,
or his or her substitute or substitutes, may do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this
Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.
Signature                             Title                         Date
           ---------                             -----                         ----
/s/Russell D. Hays                President, Chief Executive Officer     March 25, 1998
-----------------------------       and Director (Principal
Russell D. Hays                     Executive Officer)     

/s/Arthur Taylor                  Vice President, Finance and Chief      March 25, 1998
-----------------------------       Financial Officer (Principal     
Arthur Taylor                       Financial and Accounting Officer)

/s/Richard L. Goode               Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Richard L. Goode

/s/Donald M. Kendall              Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Donald M. Kendall

/s/Eugene Kleiner                 Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Eugene Kleiner

/s/Rodney Perkins, M.D.           Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Rodney Perkins, M.D.

/s/Peter Riepenhausen             Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Peter Riepenhausen

/s/Philip S. Schlein              Director                               March 25, 1998
-----------------------------
Philip S. Schlein

                                  Director                               March   , 1998
-----------------------------
Robert C. Wilson
-6-
7

                                INDEX TO EXHIBITS
Exhibit
  Number
  ------
5.1     Opinion of Venture Law Group, A Professional Corporation
   23.1    Consent of Venture Law Group, A Professional Corporation
           (included in Exhibit 5.1)

   23.2    Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Auditors

   24.1    Powers of Attorney (see p. 6)