Focal Bathys Review | Audiophile Wireless Headphones
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- Опубліковано 26 лип 2024
- Bathys is Focal’s first high-end wireless headphone, hoping to deliver on Focal’s pedigree. But while we have no doubt Focal can create a beautiful, comfortable wireless headphone - can it have the same level of sound quality as its previous closed back headphones?
0:00 Intro
1:12 Build, Design, and Features
5:10 Sound Impressions
9:49 Final Thoughts
Check out the Focal Bathys: bloomaudio.com/products/focal...
Read our written review: bloomaudio.com/articles/focal... - Наука та технологія
The absence of LDAC is disappointing. At this price, the headphones should support all available codecs.
Great review especially last line about made better by the wireless functionality
Nice Review!
Very good review. I wonder though how the Bowers and Wilkins headphones PX8 compare which are a little cheaper?
I now own the Bathys, previously owned the OG clears, Clear MG pros, Elegias. The Bathys have the same sound signature as other focals but slightly falls on the V shaped side of tunings. I do enjoy this signature though with my music library, the app/EQ works well and doesnt downgrade the sound, the comfort is not the greatest, they do not feel premium for the price and fit will depend on your ears and headshape. on USB mode the details are better and bass feels more tighter as well and treble more airy. overall they are the best BT headphone but if I were using them only for home use I would add another 100 and get the OG clears . better dynamics, punch and details
The HiFiMan Ananda BT has better sound quality as it is a big planar open back Bluetooth headphone but of course doesn’t have ANC noise cancellation. These are still nice though much better than Apple AirPods Pro! I still prefer my H95’s though and they look better too.
What would you say are the biggest differences between the Elegia's and the Bathys? (apart from wired /wireless). I'm using an A&K se180, with uncompressed audio (mostly).
@@Andyhandle The Elegias needed a bit more EQ correction in the bass and lower treble regions. I used Resolves EQ for them and got them to sound good. otherwise the Bathys do not need EQ correction, wireless with the app I bump 1K by 3db. The Elegias are comfortable like the other Focals , Bathys are smaller in pad dimensions. The Elegias also sound a bit hollow or weird on the first listen coming from other harman tuned headphones .
@@kanz7329 thanks for the reply, very much appreciated.
Some time ago I tried some Focal Utopias and was amazed by the sound and found them very comfortable. Ever since, I've thought about getting some Focals. I've got some aging Audeze LCD2 headphones (very heavy and it's always felt like there was something missing for what I like, espcially in the mids and a bit of energy, though I haven't tried to EQ them. Apart from that I've focussed more on iems with some very old Shure 846s, some newer Sennheiser ie600s. But headphones just have some wireless ones.
Excellent summary view.
Was looking forward to reviews just to hear the interpreted pronounciation of these. And this is amazing. They should've made them water resistant you could actually use them while taking a bath
I do use my phone I the bath with external speakers or waterproof Sony speakers. But it would have been great 🛀
is it possible to completely turn off ANC?
How do these compare to the B&O H95?
Awesome!
I love focal and really wish they went for LDAC and Aptx Lossless specifically even if it is an add-on cost option for the buyer to license. The buyer should at least have the option imo
I bilieve this can be integrated in future firmwawre updates?
@@junkuqi7948 I hope so. Sennheiser recently made the same choice to not support both
just use a USB cable.
If my Anker 120$ headphone can afford the LDAC license then I am sure Focal could with a 799$ price tag.
Wait did i hear this right? This thing only goes up to aptx adaptive???
Have you heard the Drop Panda wireless?
Nice review.
How do you feel these compare to the wireless headphones Apple Max and the planar Edifier stax Spirit s3 (I have these and they sound ok but the app is appalling, buttons a pain and call quality only really for indoors but they are foldable and also run wired).
I haven't heard the S3, but compared to the AirPod Max, the Bathys presents more detail and stronger definition, and outside of some of the gimmicks on the AirPods Max, Bathys has better imaging and a larger soundstage.
@@BloomAudio thanks for the reply.
I was tempted by some Focal Elegia's (wired), tried them and liked them but ended up, for other reasons with ie600 iems.
Is there a very noticeable difference between the Bathys and the Elegia's? (I was surprised that the Edifiers wireless aren't a million miles away from using them wired, though there are differences but wireless is so convenient.
Aptx lossless is starting to emerge, it'll be interesting to hear what differences that brings to wireless headphones.
Can you plug them directly into an iPhone using DAC mode via the USB. If so, what apps/services support hi-res output
For iPhone you may need a separate OTG cable, since the cable it comes with is USB-C. You should be able to get hi-res output with the usual suspects: Tidal, Apple Music, Qobuz, etc.
Great review! (Only that gate you put on your voice is sounding quite weird , it was hard to listen through the video)
same feedback, he should've lowered the threshold, his voice is being eaten on the lower volume parts
How does this compare to the Mark Levinson 5909?
You never mentioned the mark levinson 5909
how does the ANC compare to class leading ones like the airpods and sony?
LOL!
@@andreasakritas LOL!
I’d love to know this as well
@@BespokeSlipp I ordered them, received them today and did an A/B with my Final UX3000. So comfort wise they are not the greatest if you have a big head, the app is not straightforward and you will need to figure your way around it intially as I had connection issues, the sound quality however was a big step up from the UX3000, the ANC was just a tad bit better than the UX3000 not by much, so having said that I believe Sony and Bose still have better ANC, however the options available with the Focals are enough for it to be the top ANC headphone, just wished the comfort was better, the UX3000 has lush pads and a nice feel to them
@@kanz7329 Really appreciate you sharing your impressions, thanks! I was expecting the sound quality to be great, but am surprised at the comfort level. My head is medium-sized so they might not be as bad; I’ll try them out at a local shop to see. I’ve actually been saving up for a LCD-X and now it’s time for more research and testing!
i have focal clears and love them , also have B&O H95 for wireless use , they are very good if had to say they
dont get that loud , would love to compare to them , the clears are more comfy than h95 not as much clamp.
What part of the H95 do you like?
the sound , its very detailed to others have tried
@@andreww501 agree i own the h95 as well as clear and stellia
Ive owned both the clears and clear MG , the elegia and now the bathys, it has a similar sound signature when using USB mode but the clears are in a different ballpark when it comes to resolution. as far as bt is concerned I dont think there is a better headphone, oh and the comfort is not the greatest and defo not like the clears, these are smaller and feel a bit plasticky
@@kanz7329 wow your into the Focal.. I have the Mark Levinson 5909, maybe you should give those a try?
I own og clears and my office setup is Celestee + ifi go blu. Perhaps Bathys just made my mobile setup irrelevant. I enjoyed the Radiance but more bass and treble energy does have me a bit worried on the tuning.
My original clears clip with the song Traust from the band Heilung at over 90 db. Focal is trash 🗑️ because they cheap out on their machine's . They are using same machines as they do for their speakers.
Hi, do you enjoy the clears more than radiance? which genres do you listen? many thanks in advance for your info👍
@@petrpulpytel clears sound amazing on cocktail ha500h
From what I’ve heard, it’s pretty v shaped, which’s completely different to the Clears so you might wanna hold on to your Clears for a while
@@petrpulpytel I prefer og clears to radiance and radiance over Celestee. I do not have clipping issues that the other person posted. I also have had 0 build quality issues for my focal. I assume those were early model variations but cannot speak to that.
I have the dune edition and let me tell you that they are the best sounding bt so far I also have the px8 and I also love them but there is something with the bathys that I love them more. The only complaint I have and I hope focal do something about it is the microfiber part of the headband. That this gets black dirty in a matter of a week. I’m a bold man so if you wear it outside I’ll sweat a bit and the headband a sponge.
If people want open back and wireless check out the Grado ones. .For me I think wireless should be closed and at least splash proof. .
I returned mine. They were cutting out. Also squeezing my head. That foam they use isn’t as comfortable as it looks. Just saying…
@@denislemieux7294
Did you try the “G cushion” with it? Because I heard it’s massively different than the original pads, it’s an extra 50$ purchase
@@AzizMugren No. Good point. Maybe I should have. There are reports about different pads changing the sound?
The best audiophile ANC bluetooth I've found is the Dali IO-6. Any idea how this compares? Has anyone else heard the IO-6?
What about B&W PX8
Best one so far is the Anker Life q30 with Oluv's eq setting, nothing I've heard can play as natural and true to the original recording (only correct way). B&W, B&O, Bose, Jbl... All of them are just a joke for people who want sound quality but this focal might be different as their Elex is already one of the best with really great natural and fast sound.
@@lukabosnjak3829 lol....no
@@trilingualkid Lol yes but you want to belive that it's worth it to spend over 400$ on a headphone for some gimmicks... Eq is 95% of the sound quality, watch here how some 10$ sony destroy the Meze Empyrian, Focal is still better tho: ua-cam.com/video/BRk_MwXMseQ/v-deo.html
@@lukabosnjak3829 😂😂😂😂😂 no
Can I use these in the bath 🚿?
No lol
This or momentum 4? For home and flights
Momentum 4 is lighter and probably slightly better on the non-sound end (ANC performance, connection stability, etc.) which might give it the edge for travel, but Bathys is the hands down winner on sound - the more I've heard both since doing the review, the more I appreciate Bathys' sound.
@@BloomAudio but is the Bathys anc usable on planes? I tried the PX7 S2 and anc was just non existent and I wonder if Focal's anc is better
are the cups still spring loaded?
No they are not I have them.
Priced should've been $500 at the most and marketed heavily at the general public. Audiophiles who care about portable stuff already got their portable setups with DAPs, IEMs or higher end headphones which they won't change for a Bluetooth headphone. They missed the opportunity to bring newer people into the hobby.
or ldac and aptx lossless...
@@harackmw yes, no aptx HD or LDAC is big wtf?
T+A Solitaire T is coming for $1699.
@@taekim81 yikes...
If the Bathys sound 90% as good as Celestee, I am going to ditch DAPs and IEMs. Using a USB cable to connect to a phone is much more convenient than using a DAP.
I wonder how it sounds via USB compared to wireless. In that regard, it competes directly with the newly released Momentum 4 Wireless from Sennheiser, which also allows for USB listening. USB audio with these headphones is the best kept secret feature I think.
Did the Sennheiser allow usb playback with a phone and noise cancelling at the same time? As far as I know the Bathys can do this, but the Senn couldn't, I could be wrong though.
@@harackmw I've had the momentum 2, 3, and 4, and they all allow for usb playback and noise cancelling at the same time. If they didn't for you, it may have been a defect of some sort or maybe a setting was changed, but I've never had an issue with that.
@@everettedl thanks!
Momentum series from Senn is a horrible sound. These are nowhere in that dumb league.
Staxx n Edifier collaboration
I've for the Edifier stax Spirit s3. They sound good though you can get planar IEMs wired for half the price that sound better. However, the app for the Edifiers is a huge let down and pressing the button to turn on the headphones can take up to 14 seconds. They're comfortable to wear, with two different eat pads in the box. They can use a 3.5mm cable (need to be switched on). Battery life is excellent. Call quality outdoors is very poor unless there is no external noise. I find I use the Bose nc700 instead. They sound decent, not as good as the Edifier stax however the Bose are more comfortable, have better call quality, anc and transparency. I'm sure Edifier will do a mark two at some point.
Most audiophiles will demand ldac support. This is a big miss
not aluminum, but magnesium for the band
I think the headphone is constructed from magnesium not aluminum to reduce the weight
Yes - I double checked and it's aluminum and magnesium.
Bath eez.
:-)
they're nice but a little too flashy for my tastes
Why do people automatically think that LDAC is so much better than any codec , especially Aptx adaptive which many experts say is just as good or better!!! LDAC is a Sony thing and I am not a fan of Sony's muddied sound signature!
Let me help ya . Baaa teees lmfao
It's pronounced "Bat-ee-ss"!
At this price point I’d much rather look at mark Levinson 5909. But also watching for T&A solitaire.
😴
It's pronounced bah-teese
They sent us the headphones before launch day, but they didn't send us a pronunciation guide. 🤷♂
T+A Solitaire T are way way better than these 🙂
Was wondering about it... What's the main difference sound-wise?
@@raphaelmeillat8527 they don't clip , they got better frequency response and they are more technical , more Hifi 🙂
+ They don't look strange wearing them in public because they look like your regular Bose 🙂
In their dreams maybe :)
NO LDAC? NO BLUETOOTH LOSSLESS? = WASTE OF MONEY. GO FOR THE NEW SENNHEISERS OR SONY. Go Home Focal!