"MZ" wrote in message
...
So the microphone is using the same exact piece of information to make its
measurement (compression and rarefaction of air molecules). Therefore, it
can't possibly have more information available to it than the microphone.
So, in light of this explanation, how could it not be telling the whole
story?

The problem is not the information. The problem is the measurement of the
information. First, you are not strictly correct - the microphone does not
have the same information available to it, because it's not shaped like an
ear. If it were, not all human ears are shaped the same. But that's not
relevant. The real problem is that microphones are not perfect and can't
send a perfect signal to be analyzed. There is always some distortion of
the original signal.