Yeah, I've been saying the same for years.
You are not alone. The best digital I have listened to was always using CD spiners.But from a technical point of vue it is difficult to understand. IMHO this shows that the designer wants to control all aspects of the system, including the way data flows in the system. Should we think that they are using the timing inaccuracies of the optical/mechanical system to improve the sound? Or that the much smaller in electrical terms "noise" coming from a virtual source is subjetively more harmful?