[angelom]

Very interesting indeed and I'll share my own measurements so you can see what I mean:

I saying this in other post, that the fit of the Bathys is changing depending in the position of the earcups, and this is obviously affecting the sound and/or measurements. Why? The moving parts at the top of each ear cup are moving naturally and easily with the shape of your head, but the swivel of left-right is very more rigid and is needing adjustment with the hands, meaning isn't having always a natural correct position when putting headphones on because of this rigidity. So, is important positioning each earcup (left-right movements) carefully. Maybe with more using the Bathys this mechanism is becoming more smooth and this will helping making for natural 'automatic' position of the earcups like majority of other headphones.

 

[Ikhemsek]

Finally received my Bathys. I've only listened to them for about 30 mins after charging and updating the firmware. Firmware updated very quick. You learn to appreciate this after dealing with a headphone like the Sennheiser Momentum 4 which takes an hour to update it's firmware, inexcusable in 2022 in my opinion.

A couple quick notes before listing my initial impressions.
1) I spent the day listening to my ML 5909. I did this so that I could more easily see how I take to the Bathys after using the 5909 all day.
2) I listened on my iPhone 12 Pro Max via Bluetooth only

Initial Impressions:
1) Bathys are definitely louder than the 5909. This was already mentioned to me by Angelom and now I can confirm. Thanks Angelom
2) As others have stated, the Bathys and 5909 are pretty evenly matched in sound quality. I think the 5909 may just be a touch more spacious and articulate, but I'm enjoying the bass and treble presentation more on the Bathys. Overall I'm enjoying the Bathys sound a little more. Some of this is because the 5909 doesn't quite get loud enough for me, and there are times where I like to crank the volume a little. When I want to crank the volume on my 5909, I have to turn the volume all the way up to 100%, and depending on the track, that still may not be loud enough. On the Bathys, anything over about 80% is too loud.
3) For my small ears, they are pretty evenly matched in comfort. Clamping force is comparable. I personally prefer the material that the Bathys use on the headband for the top of the head. Feels a little better on top of the head to me. This is nitpicking though. I will say that the Bathys feel more secure on my head and not as loose fitting as the 5909. If taking a walk, I'd grab the Bathys over the 5909
4) The Bathys are definitely bigger headphones, and I thought the 5909 was big when i first got them.
5) Bathys have a smaller case which is a plus if using for travel.
6) I love the simplicity of the Bathys. Not a lot of bells and whistles in the app, buttons are easily accessed and identifiable, easy power on and off switch. Reminds me of the Bose QuietComfort series in this regard. Everything is quick and convenient if that make sense. The only thing I hope they add in a firmware update is the ability to manage bluetooth connections in the app.
7) As Angelom stated, the Transparency mode is noticeably better on the Bathys. I've yet to compare ANC between the two. The Bathys did silence my fan and Dehumidifier in my basement which is a good thing
8) This may not be a big deal for many, but the fact that the Bathys have the click arms/extenders as oppose to the sliders that most ANC headphones are using today is a plus for me. I love being able to memorize the number of clicks to get my ideal fit. More convenient when traveling to pull out the headphones and put them on when you've memorized clicks as oppose to fooling around with the sliders. Personal preference.

It's still early, but I'm already 75% certain that I will be keeping the Bathys and selling my 5909. I still need to test out wired listening and all day comfort. If these two scenarios work out, this will be an easy decision for me.

Solid overview, thanks for the comparison. Honestly impressed at the 5909’s being dethroned- between this and other reviews it seems like the Bathys are near-peer or slightly better in sound quality with an improved feature set but the lower price point makes it a bit of a no-brainer in the high-end wireless ANC Field. Pretty interesting that the Bathys are bigger than the 5909’s but have a smaller case- I love the feel of the 5909 case but its sheer size is difficult to fit into my smaller backpacks so i usually end up just leaving it around my neck all day when not in use.

Regarding transparency on the Bathys, do they accentuate your footsteps when you walk with transparency on? Just a bit of a weird minor thing i noticed with the 5909’s transparency which otherwise I find pretty good, wondering if it’s just something specific to the device or innate to transparency mode with heavier headphones since I don’t recall similar sort of amplification in my older Anker and Bose ANC sets.

 

[TheUnknow]

Tried the Bathys on a local shop (APTX).

The first thing that bumped me was the bass , that make this Focal sounded to me like any other Bose & Sony ANC headphone , despite its separation quality and level of detail.
When compared to the Listen Wireless, Bathys seems less neutral , i didn't retrieve traditionnal Focal sound signature so was kinda disappointed.

Was hopping of a wireless Elegia or something similar, too bad.

 

[xxearvinxx]

Tried the Bathys on a local shop (APTX).

The first thing that bumped me was the bass , that make this Focal sounded to me like any other Bose & Sony ANC headphone , despite its separation quality and level of detail.
When compared to the Listen Wireless, Bathys seems less neutral , i didn't retrieve traditionnal Focal sound signature so was kinda disappointed.

Was hopping of a wireless Elegia or something similar, too bad.

Did you download the Focal Niam app to adjust the EQ? It seems the consensus is that the stock tuning is not great, but with the EQ settings others have provided In this thread they get a lot better.

 

[Maukey]

Did you download the Focal Niam app to adjust the EQ? It seems the consensus is that the stock tuning is not great, but with the EQ settings others have provided In this thread they get a lot better.

Am I in the minority? I LOVE the sound of the Bathys stock tuning. I'll admit, the Bathys are my first experience with a Focal headphone, but I find it very musical.

 

[stiggy771]

Think I should stop reading these discussions lol until I buy a pair. Reading all the comments until last week I was leaning towards B&W PX8, start of this week it was the 5909s , then yesterday it was the Bathys ..... I'll probably end up not buying anything

 

[LoryWiv]

Think I should stop reading these discussions lol until I buy a pair. Reading all the comments until last week I was leaning towards B&W PX8, start of this week it was the 5909s , then yesterday it was the Bathys ..... I'll probably end up not buying anything

Or perhaps you should just get all three!

 

[lwd]

Have been reading this thread with interest as I am currently travelling in Singapore trying every ANC headphone I can find. For my tastes the 5909 takes the crown for sound quality. Other aspects have been more difficult to judge. Just curious… has anybody here heard the Dali IO6? Very similar presentation to the 5909s. Not quite at the same level, but very close to my ears and almost a third of the price.

 

[willtim]

LDAC is not high res, it’s still compressed and non-bit-perfect. From my experience with Sony headphones and FiiO BTR5, LDAC switches down to 660 kbps or 330 kbps bandwidth all the time unless you put your phone right next to the receiving end. When forcing 990 kbps connection, the improvement over AAC is still barely audible. LDAC is just Sony’s marketing term that people associate with Hi-Fi.
I think what Focal needs to do is upscaling low quality input.

Not my experience at all. I lock LDAC at 990kbps for my Sony headphones and I've only ever had a dropout when in large crowds of people (presumably too much interference). LDAC has a fantastic bitrate, 990 is more than twice the max bitrate of AptX Adaptive (420). AptX Adaptive isn't even supported on the majority of phones; and not on Samsung (the largest Android manufacturer). LDAC has been part of Android for 5+ years and is on every single Android phone since then. Any expensive ANC headphone claiming superior sound quality should support it. Why would I want to buy at great expense e.g. a Focal Bathys or B&W PX8 only to have it use the mediocre aptX basic on my S22 Ultra? Those manufacturers are very lucky this is not called out more in reviews.

 

[thomaskyhn]

Bathys USB-C cable termination - to -> USB-A adapter - to -> Apple lightning "Camera adapter" - to -> iPhone lightning port. Bulky and approximately $40 USD more on top of the Bathys' cost.

Any idea whether it makes any difference if the USB A connection is USB 2 or USB 3?

 

[willtim]

Any idea whether it makes any difference if the USB A connection is USB 2 or USB 3?

USB2 has more than enough bandwidth at 480Mbps. That's 1000 times AptX Adaptive. So USB2/3 won't make a difference, even with high-res lossless.

 

[Not so fat head]

Any idea whether it makes any difference if the USB A connection is USB 2 or USB 3?

Ha!!!!
I don't know, some people claim they hear MASSIVE differences between two different USB cables of the same type..
So the differences between USB A, 2 and 3, would probable give them a stroke!!!

 

[willtim]

Ha!!!!
I don't know, some people claim they hear MASSIVE differences between two different USB cables of the same type..
So the differences between USB A, 2 and 3, would probable give them a stroke!!!

I have an RME DAC that comes with a set of "bit perfect" test files. They are intended for checking software more than hardware, but nevertheless I tested some cheap USB2 cables from Amazon and they passed. Similarly, one could demonstrate no difference between USB2 and 3 for audio. That's the beauty of digital audio.

 

[Not so fat head]

Btw: my response was basically...
People who hear huge differences between USB at audio levels, need a head examination...

 

[291079]

Ha!!!!
I don't know, some people claim they hear MASSIVE differences between two different USB cables of the same type..
So the differences between USB A, 2 and 3, would probable give them a stroke!!!

lol. you're going to tell me that this $17k usb cable doesn't have MASSIVE difference to a $3 cable even though it carries the SAME digital signal with the SAME 0s and 1s?
Most ludicrous thing I've heard on headfi in over 10 years!