yeah, for the average person, differences between gear would often surely sound alot smaller.

the big "training" i've gone through has definitely been over the last 3 years, as fully focusing on the engineering side. i'd already been mixing for over a decade, spending a good amount of time tuning the ears to the fine differences types & settings on compressors make, though it's been a different ballgame as diving into even deeper focus, making the most out of a Mix With The Masters subscription to learn from the pros, and implementing the lessons to the point you're now hearing what differences a 0.2db cut/boost here and there make in a mix, lol. guaranteed, i wouldn't have the same kind of appreciation for the subtle refinements in system improvements I do, were it not for such laser hyperfocus into audio engineering i've undergone the last 2-3 years.

and with both that and the journey i've been through with a bunch of different gear this year, also the resevoir of reference points. if i was just given the $100 dongle and system i have now, there'd still be a very obvious difference - but all the different points along the way have significantly built the experience to pinpoint what specifically is different and how exactly it varies from other pieces of gear in between.

granted, it's still something of a double-edged sword - probably alot easier to just relax and enjoy the music on whatever system without all this, versus getting autistically fixated in analyzing such fine details, riding the flux from bliss to torment as reveling in the beauty of certain things masterfully executed while simultaneously nitpicking the subtle imperfections and contemplating optimizations. 😹