Is there any canonical evidence which shows or implies which of the following is most adept at hearing? A) Vulcans B) Ferengi C) Vorta Are any of these anywhere close to an advanced android's (e.g., Data and Lore) hearing ability? Was it ever stated how well the DS9 Augments hear? I know that Bashir is more advanced than his human crewmates but I don't know if his hearing, sight, etc., are also more advanced.
It's suggested that Ferengi hearing surpasses that of most other species. Nog was used as a make-shift comm system in "For the Uniform" because his hearing was so good. --Sran
Yeah, the Ferengi are the best on that list. They can even focus on an individual person in a room full of people. (DS9 Season 05 Episode 16 - Doctor Bashir I Presume)
Ferengi ears are also sensitive in other ways. Try performing Oo-mox on a Vulcan and see how far it'll get you.
So when Uhura made her jest about aural sensitivity she wasn't talking about ears even though she was talking about ears while implying she was actually talking about something else.
I believe Tuvok states in "Innocence" that Vulcans have sensitive ears. For Ferengi its all about the ears and their sense of hearing. I'd say they'd beat Data in this regard. As for the Vorta, Weyoun stated: "Weak eyes, good ears." DS9 Augments were more tailor made by their parents, so if they wanted them to have superhuman senses, then that would be added to the genome resequencing procedure.
Don't forget that Quark filed a complaint about the noise Odo would make while shapeshiftin' in DS9 'Crossfire'. He was able to hear Odo ooze, stomp & scurry through the bulkheads.