Focal Bathys Review

Focal has been developing audio systems in its French workshops since 1979. The Bathys, making quite a splash when launched in 2022. Boasting features like an in-cable DAC that unlocks 44-bit at 192 kHz lossless audio and premium-feeling mechanical controls.

Sound Quality

The Focal Bathys' sound quality is on another level. Most consumers won't appreciate the full value, but they are a revelation for some. They have the most natural and unsculpted sound profile in the lineup, with exciting and expressive details across the frequency spectrum. No range overpowers another, no matter what you play. The lows have punch and power, the mids have depth and presence, and the highs have titillating sparkles. No matter where we set the volume level, the Bathys maintained rich texture.

The low-end (0hz to 500hz) reproduction is fantastic. Our audio expert noted, “A punch when it's called for, but without sounding disproportionately boomy or blown out.” This is worth lingering on. Engineering headphones and earbuds to make noise at low-end frequencies is relatively easy. That's why even the cheapest pair of wired earbuds can thud and thump along to your average pop song. It's challenging to engineer headphones to produce a fun and present low-end that's also richly detailed and nuanced. Most consumers don't realize what they're missing–that the low-end mix has much more going on than they can typically hear. The Bathys unlock this sonic space and allow listeners to glean the texture of every rumble instead of just feeling boomy bass thrown at their ears. Listeners of every genre can appreciate what these headphones reveal.

The reproduction of these headphones in the midrange (500hz to 2khz) is accurate. You're hearing what the producer intended for you to hear. They effortlessly maintain this feeling of accuracy as they glide through a wide range of genres. Songs like “Sailing” by Rod Stewart have an exceptionally warm and deep guitar tone that contrasts against Stewart's iconic rasp. At 2:42 in the song “Locals” by Willis, the synth joins the drums, vocals, and guitar. With many instruments competing for midrange space, it never loses any clarity or presence.

Though the highs (2khz) are exceptional compared to most other headphones, they're not quite as impactful as the Bathys own low-end and midrange performance. That's not to say they're bad; quite the opposite. The highs extend the reaches of the Bathys detail and texture to the top of the frequency spectrum. Miles Davis' trumpet in “It Never Entered My Mind” is a great example of how an instrument with a huge range can feel unlocked, as if the texture in the room with a master trumpeter is accurately expressed to the listener. The only drawback is that treble-only music (which is uncommon) won't have the same impact as songs that span the entire frequency range. So, if you're the rare listener who only listens to high-frequency music, you'll miss most of what these headphones offer.

Overall, the Bathys offer a special listening experience. While many high-end headphones in our lineup sounded great, none had quite the level of accuracy and detail present throughout the entire sound profile. So while some headphones might specialize in lows, mids, and highs, these offer an exhilarating synthesis of each range, allowing listeners of any genre to unveil the detail often hidden from our ears.

Soundstage

An essential part of live music is the sensation of being enveloped by sound, with each instrument occupying a distinct position in space. The guitarist might be on the left, the vocalist in the center. Soundstage brings a sense of space and dimension to music. Headphones typically provide a more accurate soundstage than earbuds, but it's still difficult to execute and rare, even in higher-end offerings.

The Bathys manage to pull off a wider and more expansive sound than any of the other headphones in our lineup. The soundstage performance is so good that songs that have been mixed with heavy panning (pushing instruments to one side or another during the recording and mixing process), like “Love Theme (Version 2)” by Piero Piccioni, can feel almost uncomfortably unbalanced. This is more of a pro than a con. That is to say, the soundstage is so good that it places instruments exactly where the producer placed them. The expansiveness here is unparalleled, and listeners of any genre will appreciate getting to experience the spatiality of their music.

Frequency Response

We compared the frequency response curve of these headphones to our custom GearLab House Curve to get a baseline score against what we think is the ideal consumer curve.

The results validate our findings; these headphones produce sound where we think they should. Bass (0hz to 500hz) rolls in a little more slowly than our curve but is at our expected gain level once it arrives, while the mids and highs are very close to our curve.

These headphones produce sound at the appropriate level across the frequency spectrum in a way most consumers will appreciate. Ultimately, listeners of any genre, aside from maybe the heaviest sub-bass EDM lovers, will enjoy the Bathys.

Comfort and Fit

The Bathys aren't the most comfortable, thanks partly to a 359-gram weight. They have spacious 61mm by 47mm ear cups, ample ear space. However, the headband pressure built up enough over time that we removed them at about three hours.

While head tilting front to back wasn't a problem, side-to-side motion or aggressive headbanging knocked them loose.

Noise Cancellation

Most wireless headphones offer active noise cancellation (ANC), and typically, you get what you pay for. However, the Bathys were a bit disappointing.

We utilized our state-of-the-art audio testing lab to play controlled environmental noise while recording what leaked through.

During our passive cancellation tests (ANC off), several noises leak through across the frequency spectrum. Most notably, the bass gets passed fairly easily, so you'll need to have ANC on to get the most benefit.

Surprisingly, there's not a significant improvement using ANC. Bass reduction stays about the same, while mids are reduced slightly more than passive, and treble is more significantly reduced. This means that the high-pitched hum and hiss of fans are diminished, but voices and low-frequency thuds and rumbles can still be heard. For expensive headphones, we expected a better performance. We wouldn't recommend them for things like airplane or subway travel.

Ease of Use

While not the best UX, the Focal Bathys have responsive, easy-to-use physical controls and an in-app adjustable EQ. The headphones announce modes, so you never have to guess, which we appreciate.

Customization

These have four built-in EQ presets to accentuate different parts of the frequency spectrum. They all felt responsive and never detracted from the listening experience. However, we wish there were more presets or fine-grained tunability. Their Dynamic EQ setting is in line with what most consumers expect: pronounced bass dominating the mix. The rest of the mix sounds great.

The Bathys come with a unique, proprietary in-cable Digital to Analog Converter (DAC). They claim it allows lossless audio playback at 44bits by 196kHz. All modern phones, tablets, and computers have a stock, built-in DAC. This converts digital audio into the electrical signals required for devices to make noise. Most USB-C headphone connections rely on built-in device DACs. This is typically sufficient, but lossless compression is limited to whatever the built-in DACs are engineered for. Focal controls the DAC engineering by bypassing the built-in and using the DAC they designed in their cable. The company claims audio playback at much higher bit rates. This nuance is nearly impossible to test; only a small percentage will hear marginal differences in the bitrate. To the average listener, this isn't that useful.

Connectivity

Though these do have multipoint connectivity, so you can connect up to two Bluetooth devices simultaneously, they struggled when connected to one Apple and one Android device simultaneously.

This was especially pronounced when using the app. When connected to two devices of the same family, they performed well, seamlessly switching between sources.

Battery Life

The Focal Bathys have a middle-of-the-road battery that provides 27 hours of Bluetooth playback, compared to the manufacturer's claim of 30.

This is average compared to other top performers, as powerful drivers and ANC correlate with shorter battery life. Still, 27 hours will likely please most listeners.

Call Quality

The Focal Bathys struggled with call quality.

We played various phrases while simulating different background noises in the room.

In an office, calls relay okay, but most of the background sounds linger. The murmurs of the office workers are distracting when the caller stops talking.

During our subway test, the call was audible but with an echo, much like a tunnel. Further, the hustle and bustle of the loudspeaker and rails weren't silenced, creating word confusion.

The baseline call quality is muffled. It's almost as if a white noise hum was added. Ultimately, you should expect to make calls in a quiet room with few distractions.

Should You Buy the Focal Bathys?

The Focal Bathys are for audiophiles or those who want the best sound, period. If you know what you like and want exceptional detail across the frequency spectrum showcased in the most expansive soundstage above all else, these are worthy. If you don't know what you like, you'll likely be happy saving money and looking elsewhere.

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