I am realitively new to all of this but I have also been using the micro fine ceramic and the 1 and .5 strop. In my limited experience and opinion going from hard service to leather is where the difference comes in. I have had great results with the strops and to me it is more about what you are doing with the entire ground, profiled edge than just the cutting edge, if you understand what I mean.
Just my thoughts.
True… some of it depends on what your goal is (which is often left out in many of these threads). You can achieve a higher level of sharpness with stropping. And you’re right, the profile plays an important role.
In fact, it’s worth pointing out that you could stop at the 600g (or other level) on a knife and, if you profile the knife correctly, have a great cutting edge!