Mike,
I agree with Jim,, I go to the movies with my granddaughter mostly and she sits on my "good" side and whispers to speak,, but as far as hearing anyone else,, no,, not possible.. at least not possible to understand what they are saying. I am SSD from translab so have no hearing on the bad side.. TV is more troublesome than the movies actually... my husband is hard of hearing and so we have to have it pretty loud to understand conversations on TV.. the movies are so loud it is not as difficult.. I don't have any solutions as I have just been this way for 9 mo now and still getting used to it.. I find it so disconcerting in just "regular" social situations to not be able to tell where a sound is coming from,, very frustrating to say the least..thinking about hearing device, but not sure what type I am interested in.. trying to decide if I want to "remain" SSD and try to adjust......hope you get some better advice from others,, besides getting hearing device... not sure what else can help though! It is frustrating for sure... good luck,, Jane