[Campus007]

Never experienced that..had them from new so different scenario.. send them back if returns are allowed and get a new pair with warranty..they are fantastic but i guess you know that as you bought a pair…good luck !

 

[audio dilettante]

Hi, any Bathys owners experience a loud, high-pitched whine whenever the unit is on (as also described on another forum here) ?

The unit I just got used is doing this, and I can't get it to stop. The unit seems to "work" in all other ways except for this, um, slight issue.

My guess is that I'm going to need to send it back, but just wanted to see if anyone has experienced this and found a way to "fix" it.

100% no. Return them.

 

[botmann]

I haven't had that issue either. I got mine when they initially were released.

 

[GungJoe]

Does anyone know how these compare to the Audeze Maxwell?

Because the only two headphones I own now are the Focal Bathys and the Audeze LCD GX and the GX are night and day, worlds ahead in quality above the Bathys. Detail, speed, soundstage and so forth. When I'm at home, I feel there's not a lot of value in using the Bathys. That's not to say that the Audeze are bad, but the LCD GX are actually, very good. Very good for music, near perfect tonality, with a nice soundstage, all in a headset designed for gamers. But, obviously the GX isn't wireless.

So I was looking at the Maxwell as potentially being competitive with the Bathys. I know they're quite far apart in price point, but I don't think that matters much of the time. The Maxwell isn't especially portable but it would be good enough for me because I mostly use the Bathys at home, or at work, rarely on the commute in between. There are three reasons I've sort of stopped using the Bathys outside and on my commute...

• They're not water proof, so I find I'm always worrying about rain
• They're too bulky to use while I ride a skateboard, I worry they'll fall off or get damage if I fall
• They're too valuable to leave in my bag when I go swimming or if I play football and leave my bag on the floor in a park
• They're large and bulky with the case, they take up quite a bit of backpack space, and add quite a bit of weight to any journey

So collectively, I've found myself preferring to take cheaper wireless IEMs with me. I still use the Bathys a lot, but I use it on work days where I am commuting to my office and I sit on the bus or train for much of the journey. I also use them as my go-to at home around the house to listen to music and complete work related tasks without being physically tethered down.

 

[GrussGott]

So collectively, I've found myself preferring to take cheaper wireless IEMs with me. I still use the Bathys a lot, but I use it on work days where I am commuting to my office and I sit on the bus or train for much of the journey. I also use them as my go-to at home around the house to listen to music and complete work related tasks without being physically tethered down.

You could try something cheap like the final audio UX3000, which sound great. Resolve mentions them in his review of the Bathys et al near the end at 25m

 

[GrussGott]

Ok, so I got the Bathys for $600 shipped from crutchfield (used a little credit to knock $30 off the 20% off deal) and ... W. T. F?! The Bathys are stunning! If one doesn't like the Bathys for $600, $800, or even at $1000 then I have no idea what you want, but for $600, OMG what a steal!
I have a long equip test list that I stream over Tidal to test all the new audio equip I get (not very much really, but enough) and I literally couldn't find a track the Bathys didn't knock out of the park:

1. Transparent mode in a fairly quiet room, some air purifier background noise
2. No EQ, including "dynamic" which I honestly didn't like AT ALL so I'm super glad they didn't tune the Bathys to the harman curve
3. Pixel 7 Pro via AptX
4. I have a big head, so the clamp is def there
5. These are right out of the box, so not broken in (which IME is a thing)

I'm not comparing to the 5909 or T+A as I haven't heard those and probably won't for a few months as I want to savor the Bathys and I have the B&W P7 wireless which I understand is similar to the PX8 which, for me, means great for video/movies/podcasts but no music as much as others.

I started my audiophile wireless journey WAY back 15? years ago with the PSB M4U2 which sounded better than just about anything at the time and had very minor ANC. I upgraded to the P7s and have pretty much used those since even though they don't have ANC since, when I need that, I've used Sonys, most recently the WF & WH XM4s.

For home setup I listen to my ZMF Eikons & Atticus out of various amps & dacs, nothing summit-fi, and the Eikons are nearly my perfect tuning if that helps anyone gauge my point of view; i.e., great sub-bass, punchy controlled bass, great vocals, nice sense of air (which BTW, for me, the "dynamic" Bathys EQ settings destroys).

If I had to have any niggle about the Bathys sound it would be that it does favor vocals in the mix more than other HPs I use so on some tracks ... so let's talk
SOUND

• Swimmers - Zero 7 Jem Cooke: The Bathys de.liv.er the electronic bass on this track and perfectly balance in the vocals, wow
• Program - DJ Krush: another wow, with the Bathys bringing in the sub-bass; definitely not the biggest out there, but I can't see anyone complaining
• C'est si bon - Emilie-Claire Barlow: this is great example of the Bathys' cabaret tuning where you feel like you're sitting in front row and the vocalist if right there with the band behind
• Angry Eyes - Loggins & Messina: great 70s track with bass guitar and real drums & cymbals, listen @ 0:43 where the Bathys are great
• This Feeling - Miquel Migs: great Deep House track that's the flip side to the drums in L&M, with tons of electronic percussion, cymbals that can get lost, lots of vocals, etc that the Bathys nail
• Elements, Orchestral Version - Lindsey Sterling: it sounds really good, but I will say this is track where, say, the ZMF Eikon can bring tears to your eyes, but not so here so I'll be interested to test this one on the cable (I'll be using an AQ carbon c>c)
• Dry Country - B52s: Historically, IME, this is tough one for headphones with the drums; e.g., on the Dan Clark Aeons there aren't any and I suspect the 5909 may have trouble with this one too, but that's to be confirmed. In any event, the Bathys kill it in that oh-crap-i'm-supposed-to-be-analyzing way.
• Wabash Blues - Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges: The minute the horns started up I just started laughing out loud the Bathys are so great here
• Barley - Lizz Wright: no headphones should escape being tested by this track due to the big enormous drum with TONS of sub-bass, and it's a big pass for the Bathys. Again, though, with that cabaret tuning: the vocalist is right in front of you and the band behind them.
• Bad Guy - Billie Eilish: this is classic equip tester due to the insane bass and this is one track I'd say there's room for improvement as I hear some bleed though, again, I'll have to do some more listening on my ZMFs to see if I'm hearing what thing. with that, DAMN do these Bathys deliver DAT BASS
• On & On - Erykah Badu: this track trips up so many systems; either they can't handle the bass or the knocky thing is ear splitting or the vocals disappear but the Bathys handled everything great

COMFORT

I have a big head, as in let out the ball cap almost all the way out, so these have some clamp, but in a firm & comfortable way so not bad, but you do feel it. The good news there is with many over-ear headphones I have trouble fitting the right ear as there's usually a gap by my jaw but not so with the Bathys so I'll take it!​

​

They're not uncomfortable over time and I can easily wear these for hours with no hot spots but they do get a little warm. As for weight, you do feel it a bit, but compared to my ZMFs these are tiny little bottle caps so I'm biased there I suppose. They're not as super light as the XM4s but honestly I don't really care about that so I'm fine with the size and weight and I'd wear them anywhere.​

​

TRAVEL EASE / PORTABILITY

I travel a bit by car & air and have a fairly good packing setup, usually being a 40L carry-on backpack and a 26L shoulder bag that's also my 'personal item' bag for flights. In there I usually carry all my in-flight stuff including the Sony XM/F4s which are my go-tos for flights (sometimes I'll wear both!).​

​

Anyway, I was expecting the Bathys case to be big, but it's not, and not much larger than the XM4 case so while it's never good to add more stuff to the underseat bag, given the capabilities of the Bathys they'll easily get space in the bag along with the XM4s.​

​

In short I'd say the Bathys are easily on the 'portable' side of the portable/transportable spectrum​

​

APP

It's a very cool looking app (on Android), but also very basic. That said, it does what it needs to do and while I might like to see a 10-band EQ I honestly wouldn't use it so I'd say the app does everything I need it too. It'd be super cool if it could connect to and front-end Tidal, et al, but that's dreaming.​

​

TLDR

The Baths are a big no-brainer buy for audiophiles & extremely close to no compromises to my ear.​

And I haven't even done the burn-in or connected in DAC mode​

 

[Campus007]

Ok, so I got the Bathys for $600 shipped from crutchfield (used a little credit to knock $30 off the 20% off deal) and ... W. T. F?! The Bathys are stunning! If one doesn't like the Bathys for $600, $800, or even at $1000 then I have no idea what you want, but for $600, OMG what a steal!
I have a long equip test list that I stream over Tidal to test all the new audio equip I get (not very much really, but enough) and I literally couldn't find a track the Bathys didn't knock out of the park:

1. Transparent mode in a fairly quiet room, some air purifier background noise
2. No EQ, including "dynamic" which I honestly didn't like AT ALL so I'm super glad they didn't tune the Bathys to the harman curve
3. Pixel 7 Pro via AptX
4. I have a big head, so the clamp is def there
5. These are right out of the box, so not broken in (which IME is a thing)

I'm not comparing to the 5909 or T+A as I haven't heard those and probably won't for a few months as I want to savor the Bathys and I have the B&W P7 wireless which I understand is similar to the PX8 which, for me, means great for video/movies/podcasts but no music as much as others.

I started my audiophile wireless journey WAY back 15? years ago with the PSB M4U2 which sounded better than just about anything at the time and had very minor ANC. I upgraded to the P7s and have pretty much used those since even though they don't have ANC since, when I need that, I've used Sonys, most recently the WF & WH XM4s.

For home setup I listen to my ZMF Eikons & Atticus out of various amps & dacs, nothing summit-fi, and the Eikons are nearly my perfect tuning if that helps anyone gauge my point of view; i.e., great sub-bass, punchy controlled bass, great vocals, nice sense of air (which BTW, for me, the "dynamic" Bathys EQ settings destroys).

If I had to have any niggle about the Bathys sound it would be that it does favor vocals in the mix more than other HPs I use so on some tracks ... so let's talk
SOUND

• Swimmers - Zero 7 Jem Cooke: The Bathys de.liv.er the electronic bass on this track and perfectly balance in the vocals, wow
• Program - DJ Krush: another wow, with the Bathys bringing in the sub-bass; definitely not the biggest out there, but I can't see anyone complaining
• C'est si bon - Emilie-Claire Barlow: this is great example of the Bathys' cabaret tuning where you feel like you're sitting in front row and the vocalist if right there with the band behind
• Angry Eyes - Loggins & Messina: great 70s track with bass guitar and real drums & cymbals, listen @ 0:43 where the Bathys are great
• This Feeling - Miquel Migs: great Deep House track that's the flip side to the drums in L&M, with tons of electronic percussion, cymbals that can get lost, lots of vocals, etc that the Bathys nail
• Elements, Orchestral Version - Lindsey Sterling: it sounds really good, but I will say this is track where, say, the ZMF Eikon can bring tears to your eyes, but not so here so I'll be interested to test this one on the cable (I'll be using an AQ carbon c>c)
• Dry Country - B52s: Historically, IME, this is tough one for headphones with the drums; e.g., on the Dan Clark Aeons there aren't any and I suspect the 5909 may have trouble with this one too, but that's to be confirmed. In any event, the Bathys kill it in that oh-crap-i'm-supposed-to-be-analyzing way.
• Wabash Blues - Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges: The minute the horns started up I just started laughing out loud the Bathys are so great here
• Barley - Lizz Wright: no headphones should escape being tested by this track due to the big enormous drum with TONS of sub-bass, and it's a big pass for the Bathys. Again, though, with that cabaret tuning: the vocalist is right in front of you and the band behind them.
• Bad Guy - Billie Eilish: this is classic equip tester due to the insane bass and this is one track I'd say there's room for improvement as I hear some bleed though, again, I'll have to do some more listening on my ZMFs to see if I'm hearing what thing. with that, DAMN do these Bathys deliver DAT BASS
• On & On - Erykah Badu: this track trips up so many systems; either they can't handle the bass or the knocky thing is ear splitting or the vocals disappear but the Bathys handled everything great

COMFORT

I have a big head, as in let out the ball cap almost all the way out, so these have some clamp, but in a firm & comfortable way so not bad, but you do feel it. The good news there is with many over-ear headphones I have trouble fitting the right ear as there's usually a gap by my jaw but not so with the Bathys so I'll take it!​

​

They're not uncomfortable over time and I can easily wear these for hours with no hot spots but they do get a little warm. As for weight, you do feel it a bit, but compared to my ZMFs these are tiny little bottle caps so I'm biased there I suppose. They're not as super light as the XM4s but honestly I don't really care about that so I'm fine with the size and weight and I'd wear them anywhere.​

​

TRAVEL EASE / PORTABILITY

I travel a bit by car & air and have a fairly good packing setup, usually being a 40L carry-on backpack and a 26L shoulder bag that's also my 'personal item' bag for flights. In there I usually carry all my in-flight stuff including the Sony XM/F4s which are my go-tos for flights (sometimes I'll wear both!).​

​

Anyway, I was expecting the Bathys case to be big, but it's not, and not much larger than the XM4 case so while it's never good to add more stuff to the underseat bag, given the capabilities of the Bathys they'll easily get space in the bag along with the XM4s.​

​

In short I'd say the Bathys are easily on the 'portable' side of the portable/transportable spectrum​

​

APP

It's a very cool looking app (on Android), but also very basic. That said, it does what it needs to do and while I might like to see a 10-band EQ I honestly wouldn't use it so I'd say the app does everything I need it too. It'd be super cool if it could connect to and front-end Tidal, et al, but that's dreaming.​

​

TLDR

The Baths are a big no-brainer buy for audiophiles & extremely close to no compromises to my ear.​

And I haven't even done the burn-in or connected in DAC mode​

Great personal review. I guess people like individual sounds, the Dynamic mode in EQ settings sounds good to me but my Bathys are burned in over 150 hrs so that may make a difference, don’t discount it just yet. But boy are you in for a treat…hopefully when burnt in and you try DAC mode…i love it

 

[Ieonasj]

my bose QCE II EQ”ed on app sounds same as my bathys. however , for jome use im prefer my focal stellia and for travel use bose aerbuds. bathys collecting dust at home. maybe sometimes watching movies woth bathys. maybe in future bathys will find use any

 

[GrussGott]

my bose QCE II EQ”ed on app sounds same as my bathys. however , for jome use im prefer my focal stellia and for travel use bose aerbuds. bathys collecting dust at home. maybe sometimes watching movies woth bathys. maybe in future bathys will find use any

Definitely sell them to someone who'll appreciate them as these are not headphones that should be sitting on a shelf.

Given you've got the bose you prefer, no reason to hang onto the Bathys

 

[llamaluv]

Hi, any Bathys owners experience a loud, high-pitched whine whenever the unit is on (as also described on another forum here) ?

The unit I just got used is doing this, and I can't get it to stop. The unit seems to "work" in all other ways except for this, um, slight issue.

My guess is that I'm going to need to send it back, but just wanted to see if anyone has experienced this and found a way to "fix" it.

Okay, second try, this time ordering from a dealer and under warranty. "Open box", yet still shrink wrapped (haha).

I'm coming from a Denon GC-AH30, which were a $400 ANC headphone at the time when I got them 3 or so years back. Their sound was unfortunately wholly unremarkable (The bathos to Focal's Bathys, you might say) (eh heh).

Anyway, the Bathys is much more engaging. So long as no dealbreakers manifest themselves with regards to usability, I think these ought be keepers.

 

[jegnyc]

Got my Bathys last week and first impressions are very positive. I do have a question. According to the literature, I should be able to use the Google Assistant. But in the app I only see options for Siri and Alexa. I am using an iPhone 12 with the Google Assistant app installed. I have a number of Google Home/Nest/ChromeCast Audio devices, nothing from Amazon. Are other iPhone users able select the Google Assistant?

Click on the image to see a full screenshot of my Focal & Naim app page for selecting an assistant.

 

[leicashot]

Anyone getting an annoying 'knock knock' tone when on calls? it's so annoying an I cannot find any reference to it at all. Happens every minute or so.

 

[botmann]

Anyone getting an annoying 'knock knock' tone when on calls?...

I don't recall anything like that. I will get something kind of like it, but I assumed it was more a notification from the phone when it is switching between WiFi and the cell service

 

[leicashot]

Yeah for some reason it's all the time which is frustrating me. I commented on their Facebook page a couple of times with no answer cause I assume it's some teenage kid posting who has no idea.

 

[blackads]

For those looking for options to connect the Bathys in DAC mode to an iphone, the best budget option adaptor Ive found and confirmed to work is this one, available on AliExpress, even cheaper in bulk:

KingLucky OTG Adapter

Works perfectly with the usb-c to usb-c cable supplied with the Bathys.

Also, Ive had two different adaptors (each $20) snap off at the lightning connector when accidentally put under strain, such as when putting the phone in a pocket, due to the combined length of the adaptor and usb-c jack. This happened also with a $40 custom usb-c to lightning cable, so Ive found it safest /cheapest to stay with the adaptor and the cable supplied with the Bathys.

A good option to minimise the risk of the adaptor snapping is to use a short lightning extension cable, Ive used this one from AliExpress:

EleSupermarket Lightning Extension

Doesn't seem to have any impact on sound quality.

cheers