DF83 Series

I have one. It’s good but I prefer my df83 with mazzer 151 burrs. I’m looking at getting rid of the niche in time

I have a df83 v2. Older version now. Modded it with a better chute and it has been fantastic. Very low if non existent retention. Recently put 151 mazzer burrs on it. Better in many ways than the philos

Df83 is excellent. I have one in my collection

Trust me it’s not. It’s good at all roasts. There are lots of people who just follow trends. I got it when it was an unknown entity. Remember. It’s only a machine. A burr carrier. Eventually I swapped the burrs for Mazzer 151A. I like very traditional style espresso.

Niche was ok. A bit underwhelming. I prefer the DF over it by a mile. I do also have a WW Key mk 2 which is fabulous. I have an ECM sync 2.

I have a DF83 and it works well for both!

Agree with fellow ode 2. Great bang for the buck filter grinder + burr. Also, you can upgrade to SSP MP or Cast in future as curiosity leads you, without having to invest in a new platform. I will challenge prevailing opinion and caution against the DFs. Popular for sure, they are an affordable stepping stone into 64mm burr space. That alone is a dramatic improvement over entry level grinders, which is where most DF users come from. And to be sure, there’s tons of really great (and reasonably priced) burrs at 64mm. The DFs, however, are not worth the price IMHO because of their inconsistent manufacturing quality. They are great when they work, but you’re stuck without a responsive support network (in NA, anyway) when they don’t. Also, some of their cost cutting was achieved with incredibly janky design decisions. The heterogeneous materials in the grind chamber and carriers, for example, can lead to horrific alignment issues at high duty cycles when the different metals start expanding at different rates under thermal load. Probably not an issue for most “one and done” home baristas. Yikes. DFs do seem to be getting better over time with continual tweaks. But caveat emptor.

Sadly the turin DF lineup is the best that you can afford in that price point. You'll get sick of hand grinding fast. Especially if you start to like the medium light to light roasts. So I don't recommend hand grinding long term. But you are running out of options in the budget space I don't like the plastic internals or noise levels of the Baratza grinders and too many others in the $200 price range are no better. If you are truly looking for a buy once and cry once with higher quality of life features and you don't want a turin or miicoffee DF style of grinder then you're looking at vertical burrs and $600 to $800 minimum. Like a timemore 64s or 78s.

Sadly the turin DF lineup is the best that you can afford in that price point. You'll get sick of hand grinding fast. Especially if you start to like the medium light to light roasts. So I don't recommend hand grinding long term. But you are running out of options in the budget space I don't like the plastic internals or noise levels of the Baratza grinders and too many others in the $200 price range are no better. If you are truly looking for a buy once and cry once with higher quality of life features and you don't want a turin or miicoffee DF style of grinder then you're looking at vertical burrs and $600 to $800 minimum. Like a timemore 64s or 78s.

I'm happy with my DF83 v2. Also have the bb plus.

Very easy workflow. Can do a hot or cold start. No WDT needed (but I do it as I like the process - mindful meditative etc) I believe it’s worth the extra compared to the DF83 which has unknown longevity, quality control can be suspect and parts used are inferior compared to something like the philos.

I made the same jump about 6 months ago and went from an Encore to a DF83 I found on marketplace, I love it