Okay, so here's the million dollar question - why mix two formats differently? Does the process for vinyl itself just mean it's differently mixed/compressed and sound better by default? Is it not possible that two exact releases on different formats would sound different? I have no idea how these things work.
I mean, I know people often claim that vinyl sounds better, but I don't buy that CDs sound so much shittier just by nature - I thought the argument for "sounds better" was between audiophiles playing it on top-notch equipment or headphones and are nitpicking about stuff barely audible to non-audiophile ears. That certainly sounds like that's not the case here.
If it's a conscious decision along the line for someone to say "let's make the CD more compressed than the vinyl", then my response to whomever said that (U2? an engineer?) is a hearty "hey, fuck you!"