Direct Drive vs. Idler Drive vs. Belt drive

You gotta love this hobby. 
I've been in it since the age of 15 so 45 years. 
The other day I was listening to a well recorded live album of an artist I have seen many times, and on certain (but not all) cuts it was startling how real it sounded. I have never had that sensation with my digital rig (Aurender and Abbingdon Music Research DP777 with Wireworld's most expensive USB (Platinum Starlight Something Ridiculous)). 
My present thought with vinyl is that you have higher highs and lower lows than with digital, but when you get things right and have a damned good cartridge, magic can happen. 
My 301 has a VdH Crimson Strad on it. FWIW, I think the cartridge I have-dialed in by Brian Walsh-is a critical part of reaching this level of vinyl playback. 
And with all that said, it does not happen every day. I could probably play back that same record tonight and the magic won't happen. The zombie-dust stuff is at play whether it be ascribed to hearing differences day to day, atmospheric things, electrical, ambient noise, etc. 

I think HP of all people nailed it when he noted that digital reproduction effects a high pass filter albeit at a very low frequency which seems to rob the music of its natural ambiance. The bass drops off a cliff, metaphorically speaking. You don’t hear it as lack of bass per se. HP described it as a reduction in downward dynamic range. I hear it with red book CD and with SACD. I don’t know if it is still the case for current Hi-Rez streaming  types of reproduction. But a friend of mine who is into that sort of thing, and who also has high end vinyl equipment, does still hear a difference in favor of vinyl. 

Lewm
Not sure if that is the exact cause but I would agree that while my digital replay is good especially on Qobuz 192/24 files it just NEVER gets my toe tapping or pulse racing like my 401 can and does.

Its hard to describe as I would say my digital replay is certainly good although not top flight but it just lacks the dynamics and swing that I get from analog playback and at times with the right tape that I even get with cassette from my Nak ZX7.

It took me three decades as a resolute pro analog guy to find a cdp that totally satisfies me, the Eera Tentation I bought in 2014.
In the time I've owned my Eera that was likely beating my analog when it was first installed, I've taken that analog rig (Trans Fi Salvation rim drive tt w Terminator LT air tonearm and Soundsmith Straingauge cart), and abs maxxed it out (bespoke LPSs to tt motor and Straingauge energiser, SOTA Stacore Adv 93kg passive isolation platform under tt, upgraded Terminator arm, mag lev tt bearing and tt footers etc). My Eera cdp is still abs compelling as one of the few digital pieces that nails analog-like flow and tone density, but my analog rig has leapfrogged it...in terms of presence, timbral accuracy, tonal differentiation, and a heavenly combination of heft and speed...the rim drive Salvation tt is the iron fist, the Terminator air arm/Straingauge cart is the velvet glove.
I'm currently listening to the John Coltrane "Selflessness" live lp on original Impulse label, and there is so much going on in terms of transients, polyrythmns, cascading twin horns, and crashing percussion, yet despite this organised chaos, the vinyl sounds totally vital. The cd I've heard here on my Eera is more organised, but more polite and decluttered, losing energy and spirit.
I'm in the happy place of total zen calm w my cd replay after three decades cursing digital Lol...but my really well blended and executed analog front end just reveals more magic, and the bottom line is, it's more compelling in a way digital cannot match let alone exceed.

CD players miss a lot of information on the disc. Across the entire spectrum but especially noticeable in bass frequencies and treble when compared to the analog versions. Or compared to Fully tweaked CD players. Also, tonality is not Right, nor is all the air and warmth there that should be. And don’t get me started on dynamics, which are killer on many LPs and cassettes but obviously, due to Loudness Wars, are MIA on a lot of everyone’s favorite CDs. Please no angry personal messages.