I would probably get away with one aid, as I get very little contextual information from my left ear, with no response above 3kHz…… Having said that, I do notice immediately if I am unaided on my left side, it may be subtle, but it impacts quite dramatically on my speech understanding, that ear has always been the worst of the 2, although the right ear is bad, with no response above 6kHz, I am still pleasantly surprised how much speech I do understand whilst aided…… Without my aids, I cannot hold a conversation, depending on the speaker, and perhaps lip reading, if not wearing masks, I may catch the odd word, then I have to resort to BSL (British Sign Language) in order to communicate effectively…… After my initial loss, (Viral Flu) some 30 odd years back, I was aided fairly quickly (approximately 6 months) perhaps that is why I retained, much more speech understanding? I have 3 sets of aids, that I still use, all Phonak, but I have used many sets of Oticon, in the past. Phonak Naida Paradise 90’s UP BTE & Naida M70’s SP BTE, are both wonderful aids for profound loss, and the Phonak Marvel RIC 90’s, are excellent aids with 105db receiver’s, they just lack a little oomph…… In conclusion, I think 2 aids are in most instances preferable, it gives you more of a hearing balance, but obviously, if money is tight, then one aid is far better than none…… Cheers Kev