I mean your right in a sense, but think about it, if you have all that gear you will have a much warmer, analog sound. It a reaosn why those protools LE pre amps are $100, they are not class A pre amps, it doesn't have AD/DA inputs and outputs.
Project producers are always worried about mixing great quality trax; so much that they complain about having no gear. I think that's why you are sick of hearing people complain about "OH if i had blah blah blah, My mixes would sound way better."
That extra gear is kinda of essential though, i mean if you had it, you would tell the difference. Each peice of gear is crafted differently, you cant the same sound out of them.