[Soundizer]

Have anyone problems to connect the Bathys in aptX HD? I have tried with my A&K SE200 and Fiio M11 plus and didn't work. It supposed to work because aptX adaptive is backward compatible with aptxHD (https://www.aptx.com/aptx-adaptive at the end of the page)

That is exactly my point. I just called NAIM in UK and reported this issue. They are feeding back to Focal Headquarters.

I discovered a major negative point on the Bluetooth implementation on Bathys.
As Bathys uses AptX Adaptive it is supposed to be backwards compatible with AptX HD (because AptX Adaptive specifications on QUALCOMM website show’s compatibility with AptX HD). This is important if you have a source device which can transmit AptX HD, but not the newer AptX Adaptive.

I have such a device - Nvidia Shield TV PRO. Which is the main reason I purchased Bathys so i can listen to Movies in wireless. Unfortunately Bathys falls to 16bit Apt X instead of 24bit Apt X HD. i know this doesn’t sound nearly as good. The reason is my previously owned Sennheiser Momentum 4 which is also Apt X Adaptive when connected to Nvidia Shield would receive Apt X HD.

Something gone wrong in this implementation.

 

[tyk103]

So are these better than the Apple AirPods Max? Especially in terms of comfort? (which is my biggest annoyance with the Apple AirPods Max).

And do the ears touch the inside of the cups? You’d be surprised how Sony and Sennheiser mess up something as simple as this (reviewers / paid shills always seem to ignore this huge design flaw).

The Bathys wipe the floor with the APMs in terms of sound quality, but you lose all the conveniences of the Apple H1 chip (and the ecosystem that works with it). Comfort wise, I feel as though I can wear both for hours at a time with no discomfort issues. The APM wins in transparency and ANC easily.

My ears don't touch inside the cups, but YMMV.

 

[Denkmal]

The Bathys wipe the floor with the APMs in terms of sound quality, but you lose all the conveniences of the Apple H1 chip (and the ecosystem that works with it). Comfort wise, I feel as though I can wear both for hours at a time with no discomfort issues. The APM wins in transparency and ANC easily.

My ears don't touch inside the cups, but YMMV.

Already commented on the comparison with APM and agree completely on the sound quality - Focal much much better.
Re comfort I really think both of them are a bit so-so, for me. I can wear them both but some other headphones fit me much better (my favourite being Sony WH-1000XM3 and B&W PX8 a close second). This makes a huge difference if you use them for hours like I do, and it is the main reason why I didnt get the Bathys and ended up with PX8 instead.
If you have a different head shape you may of course experience this differently.

 

[Womaz]

The Bathys wipe the floor with the APMs in terms of sound quality, but you lose all the conveniences of the Apple H1 chip (and the ecosystem that works with it). Comfort wise, I feel as though I can wear both for hours at a time with no discomfort issues. The APM wins in transparency and ANC easily.

My ears don't touch inside the cups, but YMMV.

A lot said about losing the benefit of the Apple ecosystem and the convenience of the H1 chip.`Can you elaborate on this point please ?
I dont know what you mean by this so there may be others that would like clarification too

 

[tyk103]

A lot said about losing the benefit of the Apple ecosystem and the convenience of the H1 chip.`Can you elaborate on this point please ?
I dont know what you mean by this so there may be others that would like clarification too

The H1 chip is mostly responsible for seamless connection to all your Apple devices that's linked to your iCloud account, there it knows which devices you're using and it'll automatically connect to the device that's currently being used without any intervention from the user. In comparison to BT, you can connect to up to seven devices but you can only connect to 2 devices at any given time. This may or may not be a limitation for people, but for others that are deep in the ecosystem such as myself (iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple TV, Apple Watch), this become a large inconvenience whom are use to the feature.

Other benefits of the H1 Chip:

• Consistent and reliable connection with no drop-outs
• Power efficiency

With the positive reviews surrounding the AirPods Pro 2 in terms of sound quality compared to the previous generation, I'm excited to see what the next gen AirPods Max 2 will offer.

 

[Womaz]

The H1 chip is mostly responsible for seamless connection to all your Apple devices that's linked to your iCloud account, there it knows which devices you're using and it'll automatically connect to the device that's currently being used without any intervention from the user. In comparison to BT, you can connect to up to seven devices but you can only connect to 2 devices at any given time. This may or may not be a limitation for people, but for others that are deep in the ecosystem such as myself (iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple TV, Apple Watch), this become a large inconvenience whom are use to the feature.

Other benefits of the H1 Chip:

• Consistent and reliable connection with no drop-outs
• Power efficiency

With the positive reviews surrounding the AirPods Pro 2 in terms of sound quality compared to the previous generation, I'm excited to see what the next gen AirPods Max 2 will offer.

Thanks for the detailed reply, much appreciated.
I have an Iphone and IPad but only the Iphone is used for music so I probably wont get a lot of benefit of the ecosysytem.
I am still deciding PX8 or Bathys

 

[Denkmal]

The H1 chip is mostly responsible for seamless connection to all your Apple devices that's linked to your iCloud account, there it knows which devices you're using and it'll automatically connect to the device that's currently being used without any intervention from the user. In comparison to BT, you can connect to up to seven devices but you can only connect to 2 devices at any given time. This may or may not be a limitation for people, but for others that are deep in the ecosystem such as myself (iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple TV, Apple Watch), this become a large inconvenience whom are use to the feature.

Other benefits of the H1 Chip:

• Consistent and reliable connection with no drop-outs
• Power efficiency

With the positive reviews surrounding the AirPods Pro 2 in terms of sound quality compared to the previous generation, I'm excited to see what the next gen AirPods Max 2 will offer.

I have had zero dropouts or multipoint connectivity issues with my Sony, Jabra, B&W and Focal headphones used with my iPhone and iPad. It works 95% of the time just like the H2 chip products I tried. But i found my APP and Airpods 2 to be quite sensitive to interference. Also the mention of ”power efficiency” and the APM in the same context is funny. I have never seen headphones losing their charge so fast, from only sitting in their case (or bra…)

 

[tyk103]

Also the mention of ”power efficiency” and the APM in the same context is funny. I have never seen headphones losing their charge so fast, from only sitting in their case (or bra…)

Agreed. The way the APM handles power via lack of on/off switch, bra and overall battery life is kind of sad.

 

[tyk103]

Thanks for the detailed reply, much appreciated.
I have an Iphone and IPad but only the Iphone is used for music so I probably wont get a lot of benefit of the ecosysytem.
I am still deciding PX8 or Bathys

Due to the limitations on how many devices BT can connect to at one time, I've relegated them to just to my iPad Pro (mobile workstation) and my Apple Watch Ultra (walks, runs, etc).

 

[ralphp@optonline]

Agreed. The way the APM handles power via lack of on/off switch, bra and overall battery life is kind of sad.

Whoa, that almost sounds like a critique of Apple, which is forbidden in many places.

 

[tyk103]

Whoa, that almost sounds like a critique of Apple, which is forbidden in many places.

Haha but to be fair, the APM and APP do some many thing so well that it's faults are really easy to pick out.

 

[ralphp@optonline]

Haha but to be fair, the APM and APP do some many thing so well that it's faults are really easy to pick out.

As long as you're happy that's all that's important!

 

[fmkuz]

I just got the Bathys and the PX8’s this week. Did a 12 hour burn in on both and so far I kind of like both of them for different reasons. I agree with mostly everyone that the PX8’s are warmer but the Bathys have better separation and less low end. I thought the Bathys larger steps in volume would annoy me and when it’s back to back with the PX8’s it is very apparent but when I’m solely using the Bathys it’s fine for me. All the other functions for me are on par with each other such as taking call, noise cancellation, etc. but the PX8’s build quality is better and feels premium compared to the Bathys; not a huge deal but the PX8’s come with much nicer cables. I found the PX8’s more comfortable but on by a small margin as I can feel the clamp force of the Bathys only when I’m just sitting there and not doing anything but when going about my day I don’t notice it. The Bathys do stand out more in public and I personally prefer understated headphones while on mass transit or in a coffee shop but on a plane I don‘t care. The PX8’s case is smaller but I don’t find the Bathys case to be huge so for travel it may matter if trying to onebag it for the weekend. My home headphones are Z-1Rs and the Focal Radiance so I initially thought I would prefer the PX8’s but I think there is a place for both in my life and my wife can use whichever ones I’m not at the moment.

Talking about the volume steps, I resolved it using android and disabling in the developer options absolute volume. With that, the phone and the headphones have independent volume.
Anyway, using Bathys with a DAP like the SE200 or M11plus this is not a problem, they have hundreds of steps for the volume of Bluetooth headsets.

 

[ralphp@optonline]

As I said in an earlier post on this thread, I don't think that a direct comparison of the portable, Bluetooth, ANC Focal Bathys with non-portable, full size Focal headphones is very fair. Two completely different types of headphones, with very different uses and very different design parameters. Nonetheless I decided to do a brief comparison to see if my feelings are correct.

I compared the closed back Focal Bathys, used in wired mode, the closed back Focal Radiance, used with balanced cables and the open back Focal Clear MG, also used with balanced cables. All three headphones were powered by an Oppo HA-1 desktop DAC/amp, which was playing music streamed via Roon to an Ethernet connected microRendu. In the case of both the Radiance and the Clear MG convolution filters were also used. The Bathys were used without convolution filters.

So what did I hear? Well can I state without reservation that the full size Focal headphones do indeed sound quite a bit "better" than the portable Bathys. Both full size Focals feature a somewhat fuller sound with deeper and richer bass and a larger, more expansive soundstage. Which is exactly what one would expect from a full size headphone when compared to a portable headphone, even a "high end" portable headphone.

Now to be fair to the Bathys, the price of the Bathys is $800 and they do NOT require a separate headphone amp. The Clear MG have a list price of $1500 and the Radiance have a list price of $1300 and they both require a separate headphone amp, which for the Oppo HA-1 had a list price of $1200 (and it was quite a bargain at that price). So $800 (complete) versus $2000 or more. Yes sometimes you do actually get what you pay for.

With all that being said, if you are in the market for a great sounding portable headphone that can also be used as one's primary headphone without giving up too much in the way of sound quality to full size headphones, then the Bathys are a great choice.

 

[Denkmal]

With all that being said, if you are in the market for a great sounding portable headphone that can also be used as one's primary headphone without giving up too much in the way of sound quality to full size headphones, then the Bathys are a great choice.

I completely agree.
I ended up with the B&W PX8 instead, but same logic there. Although I think it is possible to spend kind of the same money on a wired can plus a cheap amp and get a little more sound for the money - but then youre chained to a desk. Love walking around the house with my own concert for one.