I hate my new disc brake

i just upgraded my brakes to disc up front (avid bb7) and a paul touring canti in the rear, w/ full length compressionless housing. the paul is fantastic -- easy to set up, plenty of power, and dead silent -- but the bb7 is terrible. it's my first time having a disc brake so i have no reference for how they're supposed to feel, but to me the lever hand feel is unpleasantly stiff, they don't really seem more powerful than the cheap dia compe cantis i had on before, the modulation is poor, and the sound is super grating. i'm using trp rrl levers (short pull) and long pull bb7, w/ an inline travel agent cable pull adapter. new ebc green organic pads and new ashima ai2 rotor. i read the manual and watched a bunch of videos so i don't think there are any glaring problems w/ my installation. anyone have tips as to what i could do to improve the bb7s or is it worth upgrading to cable-actuated hydro ? mostly just want the lever feel to be less stiff. i already have the tension screw backed out as far as i can and still have the lever fully return

i see everyone on here going out of their way to put disc brakes on bikes and so far i don't get it ! please enlighten me