DF64V Gen 1

I’ve owned a Baratza Virtuoso (barely adequate, if that), a Turin DF 64 V. 1, a Niche Zero, and the Eureka Mignon Zero. The Turin was more clarity/fruity forward, though not by much, but I sold that for a Niche Zero. I owned them both for a little while and decided to keep the Niche. The Niche was fine—super user friendly, and easy to clean—but for not-particularly-rational reasons I was drawn to the Eureka (for esthetics mainly), so I sold the Niche. The Niche and the Eureka are both quiet, and great for my preference of dark beans and classic Italian espresso—- really, between the two you can't go wrong. But unless you can find a used Niche there's a big price difference. As I reread my post I sound like a person always after the next thing, but I did eventually stop questing something different!

I've had a first gen df64 for years that has been a workhorse. I'm considering upgrading to something quieter and faster now (not sure what yet) because my schedule has changed and I'm frequently making coffee while the family is still asleep. If not for that, I would have no reason to change. That said, I'm definitely in the "get to good enough and stop screwing around" camp of coffee appreciation, so I'm not chasing extremes the way some folks are and my opinions may be less stringent as a result.

This is my exact setup. A ZP6 for pourover and a DF64V with SSP HU burrs. It works well.

I've not long bought a Sage Dual Boiler, paired with a DF64V and it's absolutely brilliant. For me the main selling point was the heat up time which is around 10 mins from cold to the group and portafilter fully heated. If you're in a rush then it's about 6 mins to get a warm group, hot water and steam. Had the grinder 2 years and the DB around a month, no regrets so far.

For hand grinders, go to rogue wave and get a zp6. For automatic grinders in that price range, youre almost stuck with the Ode and I really hate the Ode for a multitude of reasons, one is the auger is so badly warped from factory that you need to machine it flat. The machine shaft spins out of round (has a ton of runout) so you'll get plenty of misalignment from burrs there as well. And then you're also stuck with the stupid high RPMs it has. Imo the best cheapest 64mm electric burr grinder on the planet is the df64v. It's been A LONG time since I looked at them but they used to be around $400-450 USD, but being that you can buy directly from China, you may be able to get it for way cheaper than 600 CAD even after duties. Yes it's obviously more expensive than the Ode, but the quality is infinitely better than the Ode. It's kinda ugly and I don't love the upright/angled grinders, including my Monolith Max that's like $3200, but the DF64V has so much more bang for your buck than the Ode and you don't ever have to align the burrs in the df64v where you absolutely must align them every time on the ode and it's just a bad situation. Outside of 64mm burrs, there are some nice 48-58mm burrs iirc, but I have zero experience with them and honestly never paid much attention to them.

Definitely will. Review video will be a bit as it takes some time to get used to it and potentially season it. First impressions are that that work flow is great. I've not used RDT and have had next to no retention (<0.2g) and static is quite minimal as well. The initial (light/medium-light) cups I've made have had decently high clarity, comparable, if not slightly better than my stock 078s.

That's exactly why I took a chance. It feels solid. Everything is metal except for the "hopper" and the variable speed dial. Build quality does not feel low for this one at all

The more I use it, the more I enjoy it. It appears to use the very similar, if not the same multi-purpose burrs as the Df64. Incredibly fast grind, but a bit on the louder side. The work flow is quite nice and I've been able to get rather consistent espresso shots with it, and have even jumped between dark and light roasts with no noticeable impact on the shots. I have not tried it out for pour over yet. Any specific questions that you have, feel free to ask.

I have not used the (included) RDT yet and I have noticed just a little static, nothing ridiculous. The (what I assume to be) plasma generator does a decent job. I haven't used a Gen2 Df64, I'm comparing it to a timemore 078s, which is my other grinder. It's not much louder, but I can tell a noticeable difference in the volume. Retention has been a non-issue

DF64V (stock DLC burrs) for when I’m lazy; J-Max for normal espresso; ZP6 for pour overs