The hearing attribute does let you hear NPCs from farther away, which gives you advanced warning that something is ahead, and often distinguishes the type of creature. Early in the game, for example, if you hear a heavy orc ahead, you might want to top off your hit points before proceeding, where regular orcs would not give you much cause for concern.
True there is no directionality with the noise, but you can be pretty sure it is not from the direction you just came, and depending on the terrain you may be able to narrow it down further (or at least be reminded to look at the mini-map).