That hasn't been my experience - for me, they have been quite different & I have not been able to grow many species as well with dead/dried LFS. However, understand that different approaches work for different people. I copied Barry's basket method for U. jamesoniana several times & killed the plant each time. Some people can grow U. quelchii sitting in water --- I can't (at least not consistently).
Hmm....I should cover my approaches more. Well, for my part, U. calyc. will grow in just about anything in my high humidity Nep tank. I received it in live sphagnum in a net pot, where the main body of the plant is doing well. It jumped into my N. kong pot from an aerial "runner" and is now flowering in that mix - sphagnum peat, sand, and a little cyprus mulch - and attempted to join another Nep pot filled with a mix of Seramis, lava gravel, and leca clay. I caught that one before it got established, so I'm not sure it would succeed long-term. I should try it.
My 'Jitka' I received also in live sphagnum in a net pot. It hated its new conditions, next to the U. caly. (And got algae in the sphagnum...which is never good). As a kind of last ditch effort, I filled up one of those death cubes with lfs, added water till it was fairly full, extracted as much of the plant as I could, along with a few, un-algaed sphagnum strands, and added those all to the death cube, which I moved on a shelf near my tropicals. In a week I saw a new leaf, which was a great improvement since it only had two. Now, at last count, it has around five new leaves, which is a significant improvement. So, I'm inclined to agree with you that it depends on the conditions.
My reniformis 'Enfant Terrible' looked to be growing in a peat-based substrate before it came to me. I haven't checked in too much on it, as it's kind of in the back of the terrarium, and I can't say I remember what mixture I potted it in. My unlabeled reniformis came to me as a small piece without any leaves. It now has one, and is in the same conditions as the 'Jitka.'
I haven't had the pleasure of growing any others, yet.