Folklore #4: If Something is Audible, Then That Something Is Measurable
All the commercial measuring gear available today are using the standard engineering units - e.g. Volts, Amps, Ohms, Watts. The relationship between some of these units are known, and we can easily convert them from one to another, and often infer other properties.
As an example, given we know the density of a object, when we measure and find out the volume of this object, it is possible to work out the mass without measuring it. Because density (ρ, kg/m3) is defined as mass (m, kg) divide by volume (V, m3), ergo to get mass (m) all we have to multiply ρ by V. Notice that when you multiply the units of density and volume togther the unit m3 is cancelled out and you end up with the unit for mass (kg).
You cannot do the same with audio measurements, most typical audio measurements work in the sound pressure domain. There are no fomulae available that can convert from a frequency response to any of the audible effects we can hear. When we are looking at a frequency response graph, all we can gleam is how loud it is, that on it’s own means very little in the who general audio cognition sense.
As an example, if you measured two values of 0.999 and 1. What do these two measured numbers tell you? What does the difference of the value tell you? Do they really tell you if something is audible or not? Is the difference a measured difference, or measuring error? What do they mean in terms of image width, depth, and height?
To add another nail to this coffin - measurements today terms means electronic measurement. And that is another way of saying we are applying a Analog To Digital Conversion (ADC) process. ADC is the reverse of DAC (digital to analog conversion). Saying something is audible will be measurable is falling into the trap of thinking analog world and digital world is the same thing. They are not.
Measurements of audio gear begin as a QC/QA process. It is a quality control and assurance check to ensure the audio gear is performing as expected and to specifications. Sadly over the years this has morphed from the role of compliance to a role of performance. People are so focused on perceived performance they have lost touch what this hobby is all about.
There is no scientific basis to claim "If something is audible, then it is measurable".