Can a $20 iem really match a $1000 iem or is that not true

I had a debate with a bunch of Iems-people about this but wanted to ask this question in audio engineering reddit.

THEIR POINT OF VIEW

Their point of view is that a $20 iem can match everything about a $1000 iem based on more recent videos by the The Headphones Show. Their rationale is that everything is all about mapping your HRTF and once that's done, and because everything is frequency response, they were able to make a Sennheiser HD6xx map to an Sennheiser HD800.

The only issue is logistics. They’d have to measure HRTF per person. But from that they feel they can get an exact match.

Sound quality in IEMs mostly comes down to two things: frequency response and distortion. Distortion isn’t really the issue for most IEMs, especially modern ones. Even cheap sets measure clean enough that EQ isn’t limited by distortion in any meaningful way. So the real game is frequency response.

Driver types don’t magically add extra qualities beyond what shows up in FR. If two IEMs measure the same, they’ll sound extremely similar. A lot of the driver magic people talk about is either measurable or marketing.

The catch is measurements aren’t perfect. They’re not taken in your ear, and IEMs interact differently depending on fit and anatomy. That’s why people hear things differently even with the same set.

Also, IEMs bypass parts of how we naturally hear sound, so they’re already approximating reality, which adds even more variation.

MY POINT OF VIEW

My point of view is I don’t agree with this and I think there are a ton of problems here.

When I ask anyone who claims they can make a $20 Truthear Gate sound like a $1300 Lumen or a $1300 Campfire Andromeda 2020, I get 2 answers and both are bad answers.

Answer 1 is they send me EQ. I test it. It either sounds bad or doesn’t sound like what I wanted them to copy. I asked many of them to make something like a Kiwi Ear Astral. Nope. Not the same.

Answer 2 is they tell me they can’t because our HRTF is different. Which is fair. But at the end of the day it’s their claim that they can’t prove.

Here’s my thoughts.

I can’t make a Shure SM7B sound exactly like a Neumann U87 exactly no matter whatever EQ I have. Whether it’s RX Advanced, Fab Filter Pro Q, Izotone Ozone match, it’ll match some of the tuning but it’s never the same. It’s the same reason I can’t make a $20 Fifine mic sound like a Soyuz 17 Fet. There are clear limitations.

Imo there’s some limits. But some can be mapped closely.

I can make a RODE NT1A to be eqed to an NT1.
I can pretty close with a Neumann TLM 103 to a Neumann U87.

But I can’t make a Neewer 700 sound exactly like a Neumann U87.

On the same note I can’t make Creative Pebble speakers sound identical to Genelecs, an Adam A7X or JBL 305s. No matter whatever eq, there’s clear limitations.

And on the same note, I can’t make a KSC75 sound identical to Sundaras. There’s clear limitations.

On the same note with iems I can get close if the hardware is similar.

I can make a Letshouer Cadenza 4 sound like a Tops Pro.
I can make a Performer 8 sound like an 8s.
I can make a Mega5est sound like a Mega7.

But I can’t make a $20 iem sound like a $400 one. Imo that’s just straight bollocks lol.

No amount of eq will make a $20 Chu 2 sound exactly and identically to a Softears Studio 4, Softears RSV Mark 1, Andromeda 2020, etc.

How is that any different with iems?

There’s also a second factor. If I listen to a song with an iem and I identify issues, for simplicity let’s say the problems are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Whatever changes I do with an iem are limited to eq only.

Whereas if I played a song on a master track and I see or hear the same problems 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, I have much more tools available than an iem enjoyer. I can use compression, de-essers, a whole assortment of tools.

But even with those tools it can’t even be exact.

How can it be exact with iems where you only have eq?

The whole thing doesn’t make sense to me. What are your thoughts?