They're quite different vowel sounds in the same sense that "back" and "back" use "quite different vowel sounds" when pronounced by American vs British speakers.

But not in any other sense.

> in case it wasn’t clear: I was quoting from the start of the article in that sentence.

You don't seem to be quoting from the article at all, actually. You've combined two different sentences in a way that grossly misrepresents what the article says. But that's not really relevant to the point here.