You’re being overly strict in defining a general word, in a way that worsens understanding.
We aren’t computers with parts. There isn’t a microphone connected to a DSP, there’s a neural net on every level from signal processing up to whole experience.
When someone says “hear” they mean almost all of that pipeline, not just the mic quality.
Picking out a bassoon in the mix is hearing better, at the level that matters.
