LMSC
I use my Niche mostly, yes I drink light roasts only (or would if I could be sure what I ordered was actually light).
I have no idea what most people are talking about in these ‘grinder wars’.
I also have no idea why Lance previously said the Niche was better than a Sette in taste testing, but now says that the Sette has a narrower distribution. Either distribution is not the be all & end all, or he just did a complete 180.
My Sette made nice espresso, but was not acceptable for filter. Measurably, it had the widest distribution I have seen from any grinder I have owned (this didn’t make it bad in terms of intended purpose, I would no doubt still be using it… if it worked & I bought it a year after getting my Niche).
I tried the Niche prototype, I had previously sold my Rocky because it was too needy in terms of purging & sweeping. I had no intention of ever owning another electric grinder again but the Niche offered the high dose consistency (with no puffing of bellows, nor sweeping) of a hand grinder without the arm work (Mark Prince AKA Coffeegeek defined a “zero retention grinder” as a grinder that could dose to within +/-0.5g, the Niche does this, it is not the only one, but there weren’t a lot of others in electric grinders when it was conceived).
The hype, for me, was simply that here is a grinder that grinds…you weigh the beans in, you get a consistent dose out, you don’t think about/fret over what your grinder is doing…you just get on with making coffee. I don’t recall any hype/overhype at the time it came out (outside of freshness/consistency of dose & retention claims), just an easy to use grinder with commercial burrs at ⅓ the price of its closest relative.
The grind consistency of the Niche Zero is perfectly normal, not poor, nor wide/abnormal/bad.