[JelStIy]

for those who want to use this for video conferencing, I did a test call with Teams and an audio test on Zoom and they both seem to work well. The mic is decent — not exceptional, but my voice sounded natural and the volume was good. This was on Windows 11. I tried introducing some noise in the background — you can definitely hear it but I was still very intelligible. Multipoint Bluetooth with Windows and iPhone seems to work well too.

 

[starfly]

Although the driver housing doesn't appear to be angled, these earpads look comfortable with good depth. Wireless ANCs tend to have shallow and overplush earpads for some reason. Not sure I like the look, but I'm sure they look much better in person.

Yep. My XM4s have the best ANC (as well as the XM5 which I tested for a short while), but they're just uncomfortable to wear for extended periods, as the ear pads are so shallow that the drivers rest right on my ear. Makes the cartilage hurt.

These earcups are nice and deep, which I really like. And you're right, they're not angled. That would have been even better, but to be fair, my ears don't touch the drivers. They do touch the side walls of the ear pads, but so far it's not bothering me. I think the ear pads are made of what I think is pleather all around (no half pleather / half fabric), and replacement pads can be ordered on the KEF site. If I decide to keep these, I'll order a replacement set just so I have those for when these inevitably wear out.

As for looks, they really do look better in person. I wasn't sure either when I ordered these, but took a chance.

 

[starfly]

Alright initial and very quick SQ impressions, comparing to the Bathys back to back (all over Bluetooth regular AptX - my Galaxy S10 doesn't support anything better). ANC off on the Mu7 and ANC Soft on the Bathys (can't be turned off).

In terms of overall presentation, the Mu7 has a somewhat intimate sound to it. Not a very wide or deep soundstage. The Bathys appears to be a bit wider.

The sound I'd describe as a bit smoother on the Mu7 compared to the Bathys. For example, listening to Air by Bach, the violins in that come across a touch sharper/brighter on the Bathys than on the Mu7. But overall both the Mu7 and the Bathys have a balanced presentation. There isn't one particular frequency range that stands out as wrong. There does seem to be a bit more space between instruments on the Bathys, just a hair, but noticeable when you pay close attention.

Between the two, I really don't think the Bathys is worth double the cost Diminishing returns and all that. But I need to spend quite a bit more time with these headphones and give more detailed listening impressions. In general though, I suck at describing the differences I hear. And between these two, the differences are subtle.

 

[Bevo]

Alright initial and very quick SQ impressions, comparing to the Bathys back to back (all over Bluetooth regular AptX - my Galaxy S10 doesn't support anything better). ANC off on the Mu7 and ANC Soft on the Bathys (can't be turned off).

In terms of overall presentation, the Mu7 has a somewhat intimate sound to it. Not a very wide or deep soundstage. The Bathys appears to be a bit wider.

The sound I'd describe as a bit smoother on the Mu7 compared to the Bathys. For example, listening to Air by Bach, the violins in that come across a touch sharper/brighter on the Bathys than on the Mu7. But overall both the Mu7 and the Bathys have a balanced presentation. There isn't one particular frequency range that stands out as wrong. There does seem to be a bit more space between instruments on the Bathys, just a hair, but noticeable when you pay close attention.

Between the two, I really don't think the Bathys is worth double the cost Diminishing returns and all that. But I need to spend quite a bit more time with these headphones and give more detailed listening impressions. In general though, I suck at describing the differences I hear. And between these two, the differences are subtle.

Thanks for the initial impression. I have the Bathys and was thinking of getting the MU7 to see which I liked more. Might just save my money and stick with the Bathys then

 

[starfly]

Alright, here are my updated listening impressions between the Mu7 and the Bathys, after spending a nice chunk of the evening with them. Again playing both over Bluetooth AptX on my Galaxy S10. The nice thing is that I can stream Bluetooth to both of these at the same time, so quickly A/Bing is easy, and I had them fairly well volume matched.

From an overall sound quality perspective, there isn't a clear winner for me. They both have different strengths and weaknesses. Ignoring price at this point.

The Mu7 shines in the mids and vocals. Vocals have a nice presence and lusciousness to them. So do guitars and many other musical instruments. I listened to guitar solos from David Gilmour, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and it just sounds really good through the Mu7. There is a certain cohesiveness, intimacy and warmth to the overall sound that makes the vocals part of the music and makes many songs a real pleasure to listen to. The highs aren't as present on the Mu7 as in the Bathys, and in certain songs they sounded a touch metallic or smeared out. The low end is well defined, but with more presence in the mid to upper bass regions. The sub-bass is a bit more rolled off, especially when compared to the Bathys which has a decent amount of rumble in that area. I wouldn't necessarily say the bass on the Mu7 bleed into the mids too much though.

The Bathys shines in the lows and highs, as well as in terms of soundstage. There is a spaciousness to the overall SQ that's quite pleasing, but it in the end depends on what kind of music you're listening to. I listen to a lot of electronic music, and that's where the Bathys shines. Good well defined low end and all the various beats, highs and synths well defined with plenty of space around them for you to pick out all the other details. The highs in particular are crisp and clean when compared to the Mu7. What does stand out to me is that vocals often sound a bit recessed, like they're a layer behind the music, which sometimes works, but most of the time doesn't, especially when comparing back to back with the Mu7 which does it just right, integrating the vocals into the overall sound. There were also a few songs, such as Wish You Were Here (on the Live at Gdansk album) where the guitar intro was too forward, harsh almost, whereas it was very smooth and lush on the Mu7. I'd sometimes also describe the sound as a bit leaner or less warm on the Bathys vs. the Mu7.

In terms of soundstage and how far out the stage stretches, here's a rough idea, with the O representing the inside of your head, and the parentheses the outside of your head, the asterisk represents how much of an out of your head sound you get. Highly subjective of course:
(-*---O---*-) Bathys
(---*-O-*---) Mu7

In terms of overall comfort, I'll spend another week with these and give them extended listening sessions to see which is more comfortable. But they're both pretty comfortable for this class of headpones (my most comfortable headphone is otherwise my Fidelio X2HR). Ear cups are similar size length wise, but width the Bathys is a bit wider.

In terms of features, the Mu7 definitely has better ANC. I heard some motorcycle noises outside my window while listening to the Bathys. I paused the music, and I could still hear it with the Bathys with ANC on - I then put on the Mu7 and it was silent. I had also done a white noise test earlier today and hands down the Mu7 is better than the Bathys. Doesn't beat the XM4 though.

There is no app for you to control EQ on the Mu7, but there are easy workarounds for that if you use Android (such as Wavelet). On Apple, apparently not so much unless you exclusively use Apple Music. The Bathys has a full featured app, so that can be a bonus.

Now: price. The Mu7 is $400, the Bathys is $800. Based on price and ANC performance alone it's an easy decision to just go for the Mu7. But comfort is extremely important to me (I've been looking for a very comfortable pair of portable ANC headphones for a couple months now), and that's why I'll continue testing over the next week for comfort until I make up my mind.

 

[alchemical]

Alright, here are my updated listening impressions between the Mu7 and the Bathys, after spending a nice chunk of the evening with them. Again playing both over Bluetooth AptX on my Galaxy S10. The nice thing is that I can stream Bluetooth to both of these at the same time, so quickly A/Bing is easy, and I had them fairly well volume matched.

From an overall sound quality perspective, there isn't a clear winner for me. They both have different strengths and weaknesses. Ignoring price at this point.

The Mu7 shines in the mids and vocals. Vocals have a nice presence and lusciousness to them. So do guitars and many other musical instruments. I listened to guitar solos from David Gilmour, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead, and it just sounds really good through the Mu7. There is a certain cohesiveness, intimacy and warmth to the overall sound that makes the vocals part of the music and makes many songs a real pleasure to listen to. The highs aren't as present on the Mu7 as in the Bathys, and in certain songs they sounded a touch metallic or smeared out. The low end is well defined, but with more presence in the mid to upper bass regions. The sub-bass is a bit more rolled off, especially when compared to the Bathys which has a decent amount of rumble in that area. I wouldn't necessarily say the bass on the Mu7 bleed into the mids too much though.

The Bathys shines in the lows and highs, as well as in terms of soundstage. There is a spaciousness to the overall SQ that's quite pleasing, but it in the end depends on what kind of music you're listening to. I listen to a lot of electronic music, and that's where the Bathys shines. Good well defined low end and all the various beats, highs and synths well defined with plenty of space around them for you to pick out all the other details. The highs in particular are crisp and clean when compared to the Mu7. What does stand out to me is that vocals often sound a bit recessed, like they're a layer behind the music, which sometimes works, but most of the time doesn't, especially when comparing back to back with the Mu7 which does it just right, integrating the vocals into the overall sound. There were also a few songs, such as Wish You Were Here (on the Live at Gdansk album) where the guitar intro was too forward, harsh almost, whereas it was very smooth and lush on the Mu7. I'd sometimes also describe the sound as a bit leaner or less warm on the Bathys vs. the Mu7.

In terms of soundstage and how far out the stage stretches, here's a rough idea, with the O representing the inside of your head, and the parentheses the outside of your head, the asterisk represents how much of an out of your head sound you get. Highly subjective of course:
(-*---O---*-) Bathys
(---*-O-*---) Mu7

In terms of overall comfort, I'll spend another week with these and give them extended listening sessions to see which is more comfortable. But they're both pretty comfortable for this class of headpones (my most comfortable headphone is otherwise my Fidelio X2HR). Ear cups are similar size length wise, but width the Bathys is a bit wider.

In terms of features, the Mu7 definitely has better ANC. I heard some motorcycle noises outside my window while listening to the Bathys. I paused the music, and I could still hear it with the Bathys with ANC on - I then put on the Mu7 and it was silent. I had also done a white noise test earlier today and hands down the Mu7 is better than the Bathys. Doesn't beat the XM4 though.

There is no app for you to control EQ on the Mu7, but there are easy workarounds for that if you use Android (such as Wavelet). On Apple, apparently not so much unless you exclusively use Apple Music. The Bathys has a full featured app, so that can be a bonus.

Now: price. The Mu7 is $400, the Bathys is $800. Based on price and ANC performance alone it's an easy decision to just go for the Mu7. But comfort is extremely important to me (I've been looking for a very comfortable pair of portable ANC headphones for a couple months now), and that's why I'll continue testing over the next week for comfort until I make up my mind.

Really appreciate the updated impressions. Very close to grabbing a pair. I was a such a huge fan of the M500 sound signature and wished for it in an over-ear. Unfortunately the Space One Wireless didn’t quite do it, with comfort in particular. These sound very much what I was hoping for with those.

 

[starfly]

Really appreciate the updated impressions. Very close to grabbing a pair. I was a such a huge fan of the M500 sound signature and wished for it in an over-ear. Unfortunately the Space One Wireless didn’t quite do it, with comfort in particular. These sound very much what I was hoping for with those.

Yeah I remember the M500. They were quite special sounding, just very uncomfortable due to the on-ear nature (returned them after a few days - this was like 10 years ago). Hard to say if the Mu7 have a similar sound signature, audio memory is extremely unreliable, so I'm not even going to try

 

[Bevo]

Size wise, is the mu7 smaller than the bathys? I'm finding the bathys slightly bulky especially as travel headphones. They also have some sound leakage so does not work as well in an office environment

 

[starfly]

Size wise, is the mu7 smaller than the bathys? I'm finding the bathys slightly bulky especially as travel headphones. They also have some sound leakage so does not work as well in an office environment

The Bathys case is slightly smaller in H x W, but slightly thicker than the Mu7 case. They're somewhat similar in size otherwise.

IMO the Mu7 case could've easily been a bit smaller.

 

[TheNameIsGerald]

(-*---O---*-) Bathys
(---*-O-*---) Mu7

witness the birth of the (really helpful) soundstage emoticon!

 

[jijy]

Now: price. The Mu7 is $400, the Bathys is $800. Based on price and ANC performance alone it's an easy decision to just go for the Mu7. But comfort is extremely important to me (I've been looking for a very comfortable pair of portable ANC headphones for a couple months now), and that's why I'll continue testing over the next week for comfort until I make up my mind.

Thank you for review. I got Mu7 several days ago, too.
In my opinion, I like sound of Beoplay Portal than Mu7 at the moment. I think Beoplay has a little wider soundstage and deep lows. And I'm a little concerned about sound leakage of Mu7.
Bathys still doesn't release in Japan. I'll try to listen it on store when it release.

 

[Salty Pickle]

In terms of your comparison between bathys and the MU7, which one is more expressive and detailed? Which one has the best imaging and dynamics? How do the headphones cope with busy tracks?

I listen to a range of music (rocker, edm, metal, acoustic, indie) but the majority of things I listen to currently are soundtracks and large orchestral pieces. I'm not sure if you have listened to the HD660s however, I would like a bluetooth headphone that sounds similar and has as good detail and imaging. Yes I know they are open back and closed back are different. I wish in a perfect world they could be portable XD

I currently have Bose quietcomfort 1 earbuds for traveling. But I would like bluetooth headphones to get a more immersive sound and also they are starting to sound a little too bright for my ears. I need something a bit more laid back but with lots of clarity and controlled bass. (I like deep extension but nothing distracting.) What more import for me are the mids and highs (highs not too piercing or dull).

I was looking at getting either the Focal Bathy or the Kef MU7 so please share as much as you can

 

[tyk103]

Might have to pick up the Mu7 for travel/coffee shops for just the price difference alone.

 

[starfly]

Might have to pick up the Mu7 for travel/coffee shops for just the price difference alone.

Yep, that's why I'm leaning towards these. I will almost exclusively use these when traveling. At home I use my wired headphones, don't need wireless at home. And I work from home full time.

 

[tyk103]

Yep, that's why I'm leaning towards these. I will almost exclusively use these when traveling. At home I use my wired headphones, don't need wireless at home. And I work from home full time.

I just picked up a pair from KEF's website. I sold my APMs and maybe I'll like these more.