How do you triangulate between equipment, calibration, and skill issues?

Playing on PC rhythm festival with Hori tatacon.

I have been struggling with full combo Persona 5 theme song on hard. It's not a hard song but the closest I can get after an hour is 1 bad. It's always something with either brain fart, hitting the note early, or the hit not registering.

I tried to concentrate but end up hitting the note early because I was too tense.

I tried playing relax but end up not registering the hit because my hit is too soft.

I tried recalibrating but doesn't seem to have any significant impact.

This is not specific to one song for me. But it emphasizes the issue I have been having playing the game.