Its more like BMW offering a subscription for your head unit to have radio presets . People can still get the same or very similar results by manually changing the radio station. In this case, players can still use the audio feature. They aren't blocking the entire feature, just the ability to have a custom profile.

It doesn't quantifiably improve anyones gaming performance.

Buying headphones isn't paying to win over people that play with TV speakers. Players could be deaf or hearing impaired, using headphones to win against them isn't pay to win. However, buying an overpowered in-game gun with real money that is locked behind a real world money paywall would be.