[SilverEars]

I think this is the best sounding BT headphone I've heard, but what the heck happened to the bass from DAC mode when I switch to BT mode? DAC mode bass is so much better.

Anybody else notice the FR difference from DAC mode to BT? DAC mode bass sounds better (It might be that DAC mode powers the bass harder)!

I do like the tonality of the headphone, it's done right. Best imaging I've heard of a BT headphone.

It's a shame the headphone has to be active all the time. I wish DAC mode was powered by the USB-C. I guess passive 3.5mm connection mode is not possible due to the built in DAC, but it would be nice.

For me BT mode, bass becomes more evened out in tonality, but in DAC mode, it's elevated and hits harder. I like it hitting harder however. Not as bad as Momentum 3. I hate how hammer that bass is. This is so much better.

I wonder what Focal can achieve with a higher bit rate connection that competes with LDAC?

 

[BrokeAudiophileMan]

I think this is the best sounding BT headphone I've heard, but what the heck happened to the bass from DAC mode when I switch to BT mode? DAC mode bass is so much better.

Anybody else notice the FR difference from DAC mode to BT? DAC mode bass sounds better (It might be that DAC mode powers the bass harder)!

I do like the tonality of the headphone, it's done right. Best imaging I've heard of a BT headphone.

It's a shame the headphone has to be active all the time. I wish DAC mode was powered by the USB-C. I guess passive 3.5mm connection mode is not possible due to the built in DAC, but it would be nice.

For me BT mode, bass becomes more evened out in tonality, but in DAC mode, it's elevated and hits harder. I like it hitting harder however. Not as bad as Momentum 3. I hate how hammer that bass is. This is so much better.

I wonder what Focal can achieve with a higher bit rate connection that competes with LDAC?

They definitely sound better in DAC mode. That's for sure.

 

[Dvaninba]

I sure wish they’d do something about the incremental volume controls on iOS. The steps are ridiculously large.

 

[BrokeAudiophileMan]

They need to be because the drivers need an amp to make sound and the headphone relies on DSP to apply focal's target frequency response and eq settings.

3.5mm connection: ADC -> DSP -> DAC -> amp
BT connection: BT receiver -> DSP -> DAC -> amp
USB C connection: DSP -> DAC -> amp

Forgive my ignorance but are you saying that if I tried to hook my bathys up to an amplifier via 3.5mm it wouldn't make any kind of difference and in fact the built in amp in the bathys as well as the DSP would still control the sound signature? That's sad. That makes me sad.

 

[marcr]

Don’t buy that for one minute. Sidetone is a function of the headphones and not the mobile device operating system. Sidetone, Own Voice or whatever you call the voice focused transparency mode when on calls works perfectly well with a multitude of other headphones on iOS.

Suspect what they’re trying to say badly is that the feature just isn’t supported in the iOS app.

I’d hazard a wild guess if you switch the feature on in the Android app then it would work perfectly if the headphones were subsequently connected to an iOS device. Not that I’ve got an Android device to test this.

It's a bug! Sidetone is coming to iOS with an app update soon. Encouraged Focal is responsive to inquiry like this. From Focal:

I got an update from France, this is a bug in the App, they will be releasing a newer version of the App shortly (v6.1.1) which should allow the Sidetone feature to show in the App.

 

[garethr]

It's a bug! Sidetone is coming to iOS with an app update soon. Encouraged Focal is responsive to inquiry like this. From Focal:

I got an update from France, this is a bug in the App, they will be releasing a newer version of the App shortly (v6.1.1) which should allow the Sidetone feature to show in the App.

Excellent. Although not sure how the current version passed QC before release. Seems like a glaring omission

 

[BrokeAudiophileMan]

A one month (of super heavy use) review of my Bathys

I bought Focal Bathys a month ago. For those who don't know they are a bluetooth over ear headphone from french Speaker mfg Focal. They are semi-unique in the bluetooth headphone space in that you can run them from your PC/Mac/Phone/Tablet directly with a USB cable. The sound gets to the headphones digitally via the cable instead of bluetooth, allowing higher bitrates and cleaner sound.

When I first got these, they sounded pretty good, then I upgraded the firmware and they sounded great. About 5 days ago the latest firmware came out and Focal has knocked it out of the park and out of Earth's gravity at this point. I've never heard a headphone where, no matter what I threw at it from techno to jazz to classical to country to rock to metal to hip hop it sounded just right. Never. Except for these. I don't understand how it's possible for these to sound as good as they do with the absolutely spectacular dynamics they have while running off a battery and weighing just over 300g-- and they're largely made of metal too, specifically magnesium and aluminum. The built in amplification is so perfectly implemented that they sound like they're running off a proper amp. But they're not. They're running off the phone in my pocket and I'm at 7-11 getting nachos. It's ridiculous.

Compared to pretty much any other ANC bluetooth full size headphone you want to talk about, forget about it. Not worth even considering anything else. I've listened to most of them at this point. NO comparison.

In an attempt to describe the sound, here are some tracks/albums I like with a description of the sound.

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons- This is the best rendition I have heard outside of being at a HiFi shop listening to a $12,000 speaker setup I'll never afford. The dynamics... I've never heard dynamics like this in classical music on a headphone. If I turn the volume up I'm AT the symphony. Absolutely spectacular headphones for all classical music. The swelling sections of pieces sound incredible. Horns, drums, string instruments, all perfectly rendered and full sounding. Nothing sounds hollow. Very accurate and full bodied sound.

Allison Krauss: Baby, Now That I've Found You- Spectacularly musical and detailed. Here we see one of the few niggles I have with these headphones compared to a decent $500 class planar magnetic- the vocals aren't quite transparent. The vocals in this track on HE400i, HE400SE, KEF X300A, KEF Q series speakers, all transparent. You could reach out and put your arm through the vocals like smoke. Not on these Focals (or most dynamic cans under infinity billion $ IME). It sounds incredible- but the vocals are never transparent. That is literally the only thing I can knock these headphones for. If you're a Diana Krall addict, these are not for you.

Astrid S: F*ck Off- I picked this song for the dynamics in the bass and midbass to say that this is the thing that these headphones do better than anything I've ever heard. I don't know how they're doing this without a separate amp. I just don't. With tracks that have this level of dynamics in them the Bathys sound less like headphones and more like a very good very loud high end car stereo in a dynamatted car. Very nice.

INXS: New Sensation (Atmos Mix)- My device sadly does not support atmos but I still get the added dynamics in a stereo mix. Again, to push the point home, the level of punch the Bathys have in a track like this, no matter how loud you want it, is so insane without ever sounding even slightly boomy or out of control.

Niggles:

-There were some sibilance issues prior to the latest firmware. Harsh S sounds mostly in female vocals. That's been resolved.

-Call quality sadly is not as good as Sennheiser Momentum 4. Regular phone calls sound like facetime audio on Momentum 4. Not on these. However people have said my voice comes through "extremely clear" on the mic. Noice cancelling mic works well in low to moderate wind and people tell me they dont hear the wind.

-Vocals less transparent than if you took the $900 for the Bathys and threw it at LCD2C's instead but then you'd need an amp and you couldn't take the whole rig on the subway conveniently.

Overall: 9.9999/10 if the vocals were just a little bit more transparent they'd get an 11. Worth the price so so hard. In one sentence: EVERYTHING sounds good. These are true all-rounders. It doesn't matter what you want to listen to, it WILL sound good. Can't say that about many cans.

 

[Sword of Damocles]

The new dynamic preset is solid, as it makes Bathys fairly neutral compared to the thicker and more relaxed, but still balanced stock tuning. With DAC-mode I still find stock tuning more fun, but with Bluetooth the dynamic preset is clear improvement, as everything sounds less soft. In theory, earlier you could achieve similar mids with very strong clamping force, but for most of us the added energy is probably a positive change.

I haven't seen any other FR measurements yet, so I offer you mine. The changes after 6 kHz are minimal and mostly caused by positioning on my rig. However, there might be some added upper treble.

Please note that in this case my rig measures 3,5-6 kHz few dB too low compared to real GRAS systems.

 

[Pictograms]

The new dynamic preset is solid, as it makes Bathys fairly neutral compared to the thicker and more relaxed, but still balanced stock tuning. With DAC-mode I still find stock tuning more fun, but with Bluetooth the dynamic preset is clear improvement, as everything sounds less soft. In theory, earlier you could achieve similar mids with very strong clamping force, but for most of us the added energy is probably a positive change.

I haven't seen any other FR measurements yet, so I offer you mine. The changes after 6 kHz are minimal and mostly caused by positioning on my rig. However, there might be some added upper treble.



Please note that in this case my rig measures 3,5-6 kHz few dB too low compared to real GRAS systems.

Very cool!
Have you measured any of the other pre-sets? Do the EQ values reflect the actual change?

 

[Sword of Damocles]

Very cool!
Have you measured any of the other pre-sets? Do the EQ values reflect the actual change?

Unfortunately I haven't measured the other presets, as I don't find them that useful. I can still confirm that, for example, -2 dB for bass from the equalizer is an actual -2 dB change (+ some change around it based on Q value) in measured FR.

I might add the other presets to my squik.link later this week.

 

[Pictograms]

Unfortunately I haven't measured the other presets, as I don't find them that useful. I can still confirm that, for example, -2 dB for bass from the equalizer is an actual -2 dB change (+ some change around it based on Q value) in measured FR.

I might add the other presets to my squik.link later this week.

That’s all I really wanted to know. Thanks!

 

[ubs28]

Do people use these as an office headphone for 9+ hours use and if yes, how is it? Is it comfortable?

 

[DarknessEclipse]

Do people use these as an office headphone for 9+ hours use and if yes, how is it? Is it comfortable?

Not for the office, but when I use them for gaming it's likely for 2 to 5 hours (with breaks).
Comfort is okay, never had issues - and they are the least fatiguing headphones I own. But this might differ for you and also dipends on how you use them.

 

[tyk103]

Do people use these as an office headphone for 9+ hours use and if yes, how is it? Is it comfortable?

I personally have no problem wearing them for several hours.

 

[fmkuz]

Do people use these as an office headphone for 9+ hours use and if yes, how is it? Is it comfortable?

I'm using it every day during office (+7 hours) hours for videoconferences and listen to music via DAC mode. In this mode also I can use the headphones's microphone. For me it's very comfortable, sounds amazing, with a lot of space/soundstage.