Motor being shrill ,I agree, it’s not a “nice sound” IMO.
As far as leaping, I’m not able to determine one way or another.
Burr alignment, I didn’t take it apart enough to be able to see.
I hated the grommet in place which means you can’t rotate the grind dial fully so I have completely removed it. I’m no engineer but I wish they could have designed something better to “protect” the burrs.
As my initial shot, I seasoned with at least 3-4kg through it before pulling my second shot and there was a huge difference in grind size after the seasoning. And I would suggest the seasoning still isn’t complete from what I’m seeing in mine.
Mixed feelings: I totally agree!! I love it because of what I get in the cup, but is that because it’s a flat burr? I knew before going into this that flat burrs would suit me much better than conical (and after using 3 conicals, 2 of which were good quality hand grinders) I can wholeheartedly say that flats are for me. I have no experience with any other flat burr grinder so cannot compare, I may have loved any other flat just as much. As far as the “Swiss-ness” goes, I am not impressed I have to admit. It feels bomb proof for sure, but the user experience as a whole isn’t excellent - for this price (and being Swiss) and did anticipate better.