Hi All,
Focal is no stranger to the HiFi world, producing some of the world’s finest speakers and headphones available today. Their new venture into the wireless realm bridges the gap between audiophile-quality playback with wireless functionality. Bathys (pronounced “Bath-ees”) their maiden voyage into noise-cancelling headphones, was named after the first exploration vehicle ‘bathyscaphe’. A-lot to live up to, but they deserve the credible title, and I have thoroughly enjoyed long walks over the weekend with my new companion.
An unmistakable Focal styling is evident to the eye, with the new headphone slightly more compact than its wired siblings. The design is stylish and feels like a quality product to touch, weighing in at a manageable 350g combining high-grade materials. They felt very comfortable on extended use, and I found the ANC to be a welcomed feature that I haven’t had on any other headphones. You should be good for 30 hours of carefree wireless listening. The DAC mode connected via USB-C improved the overall sound with better detail and a higher resolution of 24 bits/192 kHz. Suppose you are into tinkering around with the frequency response. In that case, Focal & Naims app allows you to tailor the response to your liking and even permits you to adjust the intensity of ANC and brightness of the Focal logo. The set-up was very swift out of the box, and I had the new Arctic Monkeys album on repeat for the duration of the weekend!
The overall sound signature is very engaging and unintrusively detailed. Considering the limitations you have to accept when developing wireless headphones, Focal has done a fantastic job. The representation of the mids is slightly forward in a positive way, with the bass being well-balanced and controlled. Up top sounded exciting and crisp with no ear fatigue, which is essential for longer listening sessions. I only had my old Sennheiser HD650s to compare them to, which is wired and has had many hours of use. The HD650s are more clinical, with slightly more depth to the image, but they are an open-back design and have primarily been used for mixing. Overall I found the Bathys to be more enjoyable for casual listening.
If you’re looking for headphones that provide excellent sound quality and functionality, you should try these guys! It was refreshing to stroll around without feeling restricted by a cable, and they deliver audiophile quality. What’s not to like? We have a few pairs on demo here at the HFL, so why not pop in and try them? I know what my next audio purchase is going to be.
https://hifilounge.co.uk/product/focal-bathys-headphones/
All the best,
Billy
