Allow me to weigh in on this.In my experience, the graph-is-god kind of people do not seek better sound quality. They just want to feel superior, without due diligence. For someone who claim to be “scientific” their behaviour is more cultish and blind-faith than scientific, because otherwise, they would be curious.
I’m not on side of folks who disrespect anything less than $6600 Traillii + $$$$$ PWA cable + $$$$$ DAP. There is ultra good, no compromise sound, and then there is adequate sound. People get what they can, so let them be happy with that rather trashing their setup. Ironically, I see the graph-is-god camp trashing the other camp more than vice versa.
Graphs are valuable tools. However I purchase audio gear to listen to, and for that I use my ears. If my ears say one thing and graphs another, the graphs get ignored. Which is seldom the case, since more commonly graphs paint a picture my ears deliver a more refined and nuanced rendering of.
It'd be intriguing to live in a world where graphs told us everything we need to know - then we wouldn't have to demo anything before buying, and Canjam wouldn't exist. Things aren't so simple. You've correctly pointed out many aspects of sound are not visible in graphs - soundstage dimensions, note weight, dynamics & resolution. These are some of the most desirable audio traits, and are coincidentally what separates budget IEMs from their more costly brethren.
Yes, there is reason for spending more. Which is not to say bang for buck doesn't fall off a cliff above ever-more-modest pricepoints, particularly with cables, but there is always a higher level of performance to be reached in this hobby - which helps keep it fun, or infuriating depending on your perspective.
I respect those mature enough to keep an open mind and wise enough to grasp the limitations of man's understanding of himself. I suspect fabled audiophile 'golden ears' do not exist, rather individuals process the data fed to their conscious minds by their senses differently. Which is why for instance those with severe cases of autism are incapable of functioning - their brains lack the ability to filter out sensory data, bombarding them with unendurable amounts of stimuli every waking moment.
Our unconscious minds discard most of the nuances of what we hear automatically, purely as a survival mechanism - after all much of our DNA still thinks we're living in caves dodging Sabretooth Tigers. Is it possible to train the mind over the course of years to pay more conscious attention to what others reject? Of course it is. The eyes of detectives improve in spotting clues with training, and cooks probably sniff fresh ingredients better with experience. Their nostrils aren't growing any larger, they're simply processing the information fed by their senses differently.
The point I'm labouring to make we've barely scratched the surface of our understanding of the human mind, and how it interacts with sound. I've no doubt certain frequencies inherently affect our emotions in different ways, and composers & musicians probably know all sorts of tricks to exploit this. We've not yet reached a point where science can explain everything... and what sort of a dull, colourless existence would this be if it could?
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