Seems like the best deal an author can land is to go indie on the e-books, and go trad on the paper.
Depends on the author. Depends on where that author is in their "popularity arc" for lack of a more dignified way of saying it. Also depends on what they write, what they are selling and what kind of platform/reach they have.
Too often people who are pushing a "this is the right way" to publish use examples that don't compare apples to apples.
Say Author 1 was a "nobody knows of them."
Say Author 2 was a "everybody knows and loves them." (or at least has hated them loudly.)
If Author 2 self-publishes on Amazon, everybody in the literary world is going to hear about it. Amazon is going to scream it at the top of their lungs. The media will talk about because it is Author 2. Author 2's fans will talk about it because "cool, there's something new to read from Author 2."
Meanwhile, Author 1 and ten of his "nobody knows us yet" friends have self-pubbed eleven books on Amazon, and everybody, including their family and friends is talking about Author 2. Sure, family and friends are also saying, 1 is an Author too! But how much reach do they really have?
How much reach might they have if a pub house put X amount of dollars behind promoting their book? Probably not even as much as Author 2 already has, sure. But most likely more than Author 1 has on his own.
When comparing authors to authors, and books to books, that context, the apples, matter.