Definitely the dial may need to be zeroed out.
I'll do it and report back

This is from another person, he uses 804 lab sweet that he seasoned and did foil shim alignment. Light roast beans. Long bloom. Long bloom with light roast requires really fine grind. He hit the flow limiter because pressure was getting too high. There is a lot of room to go finer, see his grind size.

I guess so far the conclusion is that SOE is doable, whether it excels in it is another story.
Pulled the trigger, can try out it soon.

New toy arrived. Pulled two Italian blend espresso shots and two pour-over after grinding 250g beans, no calibration, nothing else.
Quick first impressions:

1. IMHO, it's not a good grinder for espresso. There is only small room to play on fine side compared with forte/M47. After two shots from it, I don't like my espresso anymore.
2. Very good at pour-over, clarity checked, forgiveness checked, consistency checked (easy). It doesn't produce more flavors compared with xeoleo (with fines removed), but enhances each flavor, aroma and aftertaste in the cup at ~20 x price. I think I need to sell my espresso machine to compensate this.
3. tiny and lightweight

coffee_Me wrote:Pulled two Italian blend espresso shots

Perhaps you should try a lighter roast? Something you felt the old grinders struggled with.

Based on the current finest particle size(visually), the flow rate will probably go haywire even under super low pressure. I am not prepared to experiment good roast on it for espresso yet. Will enjoy good pour-over for a while, then buy some other beans to continue espresso journey.

coffee_Me wrote:I guess so far the conclusion is that SOE is doable, whether it excels in it is another story.
Pulled the trigger, can try out it soon.

This is why I love this community. Here's an awesome grinder? Pulled the trigger!
It helps me justify my obsession

coffee_Me wrote: 1. IMHO, it's not a good grinder for espresso. There is only small room to play on fine side compared with forte/M47.

Yes, a rotation of the dial from Turkish to French press, the adjustment range for espresso is really small. But to me the 804 Lab Sweet is good enough for the precision and repeatability. I never struggled dialing in the espresso except the very light roasts. In my experience, keep the dial with the same direction would be help. For example, always dial from coarse to fine. If you are at 2 and want to use 1.5, go ahead. If you are at 1 and want to use 1.5, go to 2 and back to 1.5.

Thanks for the tip.
And the bad experience of Italian blend espresso was due to my beans. After switched to new beans, this morning I had a very good cup of Italian blend espresso at scale ~1.5, sweet and velvet.

drH wrote: This is why I love this community. Here's an awesome grinder? Pulled the trigger!
It helps me justify my obsession

one of the pandemic side effects also