I know pro musicians who love their stuff. TX-6 is great little mixer for both recording and performance. OP-1 despite the hate is portable focused audio lab that is perfect for creating little music ideas. Sure you can get something from Electron for less money but is it as portable or quirky to bring out new ideas? For some it's really important and so are the aesthetics.

I think there are qualities that are important in creative process that you overlook. The mood, your environment, quality of your tools even how "cool" they look is not something secondary.

Actually most good musicians i know care more about the feel of a tool (touch, how it clicks, how heavy it is) than they care about frequency response. They might even like things that sound in certain way and not always "correct".

For some usecases this doesn't matter sure - like if you are some reporter - get Zoom or Sound Devices. But there are people liking and buying these and they are not just posers.