Greetings mate and Welcome aboard!
Stuart Charles here, HomeStudiobasics.com helping YOU make sound decisions, so…
Today is the day when we help you decide if the hype surrounding the Bathys was (and still is) warranted.
We’ll discuss build, comfort, features, and most importantly the sound.
Do these headphones run laps around all other Wireless Bluetooth products?
Let’s take a look at one of the most popular Focal headphones of the last few years and find out if it’s worth a purchase!
- Recommended: 7 Focal Headphones Ranked Worst To First
Build Quality
Like all Focal headphones, the Bathys (pronounced Buh-tees, emphasis on the s) is very well-built but also compact and highly portable.
It shares the same general design as the rest of the lineup, donning circular patterns on the outside of the cups, an adjustable aluminum headband, memory foam encased in what looks to be protein leather for the ear padding, magnesium for the headband yokes, plastic for the cups, and microfiber for the small, sliver-ish looking headband pad.
It’s considered a full-sized headphone, and it mostly is, but it’s noticeably smaller than the others; this is to be expected for on-the-go users and a thoughtful overall design decision in my mind.
The cups rotate around 90° inward, but don’t make the same rotation out. This is completely fine as you’ll be able to get a good fit on your melon regardless, and the headphones are malleable and flexible enough to satisfy most people.
Comfort
At around 350g, the Bathys isn’t overly heavy or bulky but also doesn’t feel as light as say, a Bose QC35. Overall, comfort is quite good and I didn’t notice them much on my head; even after extended listening sessions.
However, clamping force, while mostly good, could be a bit tight for some and probably north of snug. It’s approaching brand-new-out-of-the-box HD600 levels, but I’d wager most people are going to be completely fine.
If I’m planning on using these in the Gyme (which I would be if I owned them) then I’d rather them be tighter for obvious reasons. They likely won’t fall off when doing say, dumbbell presses on a bench or something.
Thankfully, they don’t dig into the top of my head much either, so I’d say comfort overall is certainly above average. Not perfect, but very good.
The cups are pretty spacious from north to south, but the overall size of the cup is also slightly smaller than the rest of Focal’s assortment. This means, depending on the size of your ears, they may or may not touch.
Ha. And you thought I was going to do a Dumbo joke, didn’t you?
WELL I WASN’T.
Sike yes I was lol.
If you have ears the size of Minnesota, it AIN’T gonna be smooth sailing.
Heavens to Betsy look at the size of those things!
Functionality
Here’s where things got a bit dicey for me.
First off, you can’t just do a Bluetooth search on your phone and find them immediately. No, Focal requires you to download an app.
Oh, joy.
To make matters worse, the app, per my experience, was rather clunky and coincidentally enough doesn’t get very good reviews.
In other words, it took quite a bit of finicking to get it to connect, but eventually, finally, it did. This was after following the instructions to a tee. It simply gets stuck in loading phases a lot, and generally just likes to be in a pain the ass like your first time trying anal.
You like how I slipped that one in?
Fortunately, once it’s connected to the app you don’t really have to worry about it. A minor annoyance? Sure, but it’s not the end of the world.
Features
Firstly, the Bathys comes with a built-in Amp/DAC which is something that I was quite taken aback by. The only other product I know of that has one of these is HIFIMAN’s DEVA, although that one was an external component that plugged directly into the headphone jack.
So, right off the bat, the Bathys presents a neat value as you won’t have to shell out any extra money for separate amplification.
I also love that they included an EQ feature, but it’s only 5 bands (up to +/- 6dB at 62 Hz, 250 Hz, 1 kHz, 4 kHz, and 16 kHz) and almost entirely useless from a practical standpoint.
In my opinion, and as a producer, there should be at least 10. Focal provides a couple of presets, but I didn’t use them. One is Dynamic mode which is close to the Harman Target in addition to a couple of others.
Controls
One thing that bothers me a little is that while the headphones utilize 3 different listening modes for you to choose from (Analog Wired, Digital via USB, and Wireless via Bluetooth) they only work when the battery is charged. In other words, you can’t just plug them in and start listening.
This was somewhat of a major annoyance for me as I snagged the loaner pair from Audio Advice and they were completely DOA when I got home.
That said, the convenience of having 3 listening options is nice. I first used them wired with a standard 3.5mm jack, then later wirelessly after downloading the app. I did not use them via USB-C.
There’s a small difference in quality from Wireless BT mode vs. Wired, but nothing to get all up in arms over.
Focal advertises a 42-hour battery life in DAC mode, 35 hours with an analog connection, and 30 hours in Bluetooth mode. These numbers, per my experience with a lot of Bluetooth products, are certainly going to be exaggerated to an extent; how much so depends on usage of course.
- Required Reading: 18 Bluetooth Headphones & IEMS Ranked Worst To First
For instance, there’s just no way they’re going to last for 30 1-hour gym sessions without a charge somewhere in there, but I digress.
The headphones can be charged while listening in Bluetooth mode, but according to some, there’s a faint tapping when no audio is playing.
Like most Bluetooth products, the Bathys contains a few modes: Soft ANC, Silent ANC, and Transparency mode.
While we’re on the subject, ANC here is very good. Perhaps not quite as good as something like a QC35, but Bose pretty much has a stranglehold on that segment of the market.
Still, the Bathys does an admirable job and I was impressed at how isolating they are. It’s just you and the music. In somewhat noisier environments, they’ll probably falter a tad, but again, minor nitpicks here.
On the left cup, long press the button to switch between Silent ANC/Soft ANC, and short press to cycle between Transparency Mode and ANC. These can be adjusted inside the app as well.
The right ear cup houses a slider to switch between Bluetooth, DAC, and Off modes (with DAC mode also functioning to reduce ambient noise when not connected to a device).
There’s also a button for voice assistants like Alexa, Google, or Siri, though you can leave it unassigned if you prefer.
Additionally, there are volume control buttons along with a central multi-function button that handles play/pause, skipping forward (double press), skipping backward (triple press), volume (+/-), and Bluetooth pairing (long press). The layout makes all of the controls easy to locate by touch.
The app features a hearing test that adjusts the headphones to compensate for hearing loss using the Mimi technology (more details at https://mimi.io/). There’s also an equalizer function that can be applied separately from the hearing correction.
Both the EQ and Mimi work in Bluetooth, DAC, and analog modes, but you can only tweak the settings while in Bluetooth mode. The app doesn’t work when the headphones are in DAC mode via USB, at least on iOS (likely the same for Android).
The LEDs on the ear cups can be dimmed or turned off entirely, which is handy if you’re listening in the dark. There’s also an auto-standby feature that kicks in after about 10 minutes, and a setting called “Eigenecho” (meaning “own echo”) that seems to have minimal effect.
Firmware updates are available through the app.
Sound
This is one of the hardest types of sound signatures to review, because one on hand, the raw, visceral emotion they can make you feel right off the bat is more than palpable; it can be downright spiritual like John Coltrane at the Village Vanguard.
Bass
First off, the bass. Oh boy, the bass.
If you’re familiar with my philosophy on bass response, you’ll know I have a zero-tolerance policy for the exaggerated mid/high bass from hell.
Almost every single consumer headphone I’ve tried in the last few years suffers from this maddeningly stupefying issue and it makes me want to drive full speed off of a cliff.
I’m not going to go into it much here, but the main point is that overly boosted mid-bass makes headphones sound like complete dog shit; every single time without fail.
From the A10, NightHawk, Meze 99 Neo bass cannons from hell, HarmonicDyne Black Hole (of neverending bass bloat), the A70 nightmare on sloppy street, and countless others, you can rest assured I’m going to trash each and every product that does this and not feel one single iota bad about it.
So when I put the Bathys on my head and didn’t experience that, I almost got up and did a backflip off of my couch.
That said, let’s make one thing completely clear here: No, this is not a perfect bass response; not by a long shot.
However, it’s light years better than any bass you’ll come across in the majority of cheap consumer products.
There’s slam and weight, but it mostly follows the right trajectory though there are still things to be concerned about.
First the good.
There’s about a 5dB shelf that gently slopes down from the sub-bass moving into the main meat of the bass, and guess why this is OK?
I’ll give you a hint: it’s because the bloat regions of 200-300Hz are CUT; Thank God. This is one area where you should never, EVER place emphasis, and Focal passes with flying colors.
They understand well the fact that yes, if you’re going for a bass head type of sound, there should absolutely be some sort of emphasis around 60-90Hz; arguably the most relevant and important information in the low end. 100-200 to an extent, yes, but per my experience mixing lots and lots of hip-hop bass, 60-90 is that boner-inducing region where all the magic happens.
So they got this right as well.
You may be wondering, “OK, what’s the problem then?”
The issue (and it’s not the chinaman) is that there are some caveats.
First, the shelf in the sub-bass regions can be a bit much at times. There’s a sense, and use whatever word salad term you want here, that the bass hums/throbs/drones/vibrates/buzzes a bit too much, getting in the way a little, and distracting from the rest of the sound signature.
So in my estimation, the shelf could be reduced by 2-3dB. EQ it how you want. So not a huge deal, but still noteworthy.
In fact, the ideal scenario is that the sub-bass gets rolled off below around 40-50Hz, rises at 60-90, and then gradually cuts until 200-300 which should then be a sharper cut. This ensures the sound has CLEAN slam and impact; not muddy, distorted, clammy, fuzzy, bloated, horrible-sounding bass that makes you want to throat-punch a crooked politician.
Now, I don’t necessarily mind the sub-bass boost, it’s just that we can’t really hear frequencies below 40Hz so I find it’s largely unimportant. Some will argue you can “feel” it or whatever, and that’s fine. Boost it a tad if you want. Just don’t make a big thing out of it, Spider.
That said, and overall, I like the bass here. It easily trumps any consumer Bluetooth bass I’ve heard, and that’s most certainly very exciting if your goal is not to feel like you’re listening to music about 79 feet underwater.
There’s also a lot more texture and articulation to it. You’re able to hear bass notes better, follow bass lines more closely, and generally just enjoy it a lot more than you would with the dreaded mid/high bass bloat boost.
Mid-Range
Because the bass isn’t front and center (for the most part) the mids here sound much better. Yes, they are also boosted around 2 and 3kHz, but it works because this type of sound signature does require a little extra in the presence regions to accommodate and also compensate for the somewhat colored low end.
This is another element of the sound that most other companies screw up. It’s bad enough when you have nothing but mid and high bass, but to make matters worse, they add insult to injury by making the mids sound like they’re buried under 2 tons of sand. Thankfully, Focal avoids these mistakes.
Resolution
One of the main things you’ll notice is resolution.
It’s much better than the cheaper stuff and rather impressive for Bluetooth headphones. I dare say it’s moving toward excellent, though certainly not on the level of a Utopia or anything like that.
Because the bass is handled so well, the mids come through nicely and you’ll start to understand what instruments and vocals are doing with better precision and clarity.
I’d say the Bathys strikes a pretty nice balance of accuracy and enjoyability. You’re going to hear things you missed before in other low-grade dog food, but not at the expense of musicality.
In fact, one of the main reasons they are so addictive is precisely because they are inviting and exciting. They make you want to bang your head into a wall. As a huge fan of hip-hop, these are certainly some of the best headphones for the genre and in my mind were made for out-of-control bass-head bros like me.
I’ll never forget the first track I fired up, Nicolay’s “Fantastic.” It sounded like I’d never heard it before, and the resolution was very impressive. You’ll start to hear all sorts of strange sounds in the background, which, truthfully, are simply just parts of the recording you missed before. This is starting to veer towards “putting a magnifying glass up to an ant” levels, but still not as resolving as something like an LCD-3.
The ambiance, the atmosphere, the wisp, the subtle hum of a synth, you name it. It’s all there and makes for an incredibly fun, engaging listen.
That said, listening to a Bathys isn’t always going to be like this. There are times when the music does sound a bit clammy, claustrophobic, congested, lacking detail, etc. I do think this has a lot to do with the track itself, but I’d be lying if I said these are the clearest and most resolving headphones on the planet. They aren’t, but gosh if they don’t start to come close.
My observations are somewhat subtle, but again, the bass can get in the way at times and they are still not on par with a Utopia or even a Clear MG in the all-important resolution department.
Timbre also isn’t going to melt your face off but for a closed-back Bluetooth product? It’s more than acceptable and the tone of instruments is still going to be a lot better than the majority of consumer headphones out there.
One somewhat large point of contention is the lower mids around 900Hz which can sound recessed and may or may not be the culprit here in terms of what’s “wrong” with these.
Treble
I would say these are going to be somewhat dark-ish, certainly not Audeze LCD-4 levels of pitch-black-tent-camping-in-the-woods-by-yourself-in-the-middle-of-nowhere dark, but still a bit darker than average.
I suppose the treble, while not a huge gripe in my eyes, is probably the one part of this response I’d like to be a bit livelier. Don’t get me wrong, hats and cymbals sound mostly correct, but they lack a bit of sparkle and air I think. In other words, after 10kHz could have used some brilliance.
Still, I’m glad Focal didn’t overdo it here. These could have easily been hissy and sibilant like a Grado and I’m glad they avoided shooting pins and needles in your ears and ruining your life.
Soundstage
Soundstage is pretty good for a closed-back. Not as immersive as some of the other open backs in the lineup, but still surprisingly well handled.
You’ll certainly get more “out-of-your-head” moments than you’d expect, as I ripped the headphones off my head quite a bit during my time with these thinking something was going on in my apartment or outside.
So maybe slightly above average, but still not quite as open as a 560S, K702, etc.
The placement of instruments on the stage is rather excellent, but the width and depth of everything isn’t Ariana Grand, nor do I think it’s necessarily trying to be that.
Genre Pairing
I’d stick to mostly well-recorded, modern music with a lot of weight/bass slam. Pop, Hip-hop, EDM, House, Trance, Techno, Dubstep, and stuff like that. Any genre where you want to feel the bass pumping.
Secondary genres include things like Rock, Metal, Indie, and the like. After that, Jazz is OK (not the best pairing) but Classical does benefit from the bass shelf though again, it could be toned down by a few dB.
Closing Thoughts
Well, it’s time to give a final value verdict. Is the Bathys worth around $800? Yup, you read that right.
With great closed-back sound, mostly correct bass trajectory, good resolution for a wireless headphone, all of the features and functionality, comfort, build, great portability and compactness, the built-in DAC, etc., the question becomes, is the Bathys worth 8 Benjamins?
Whew.
*Ronald Reagan voice*
Well.
Gosh.
If you’re familiar with this blog, you’ll know I have been searching for that one Bluetooth Headphone that ticks all the boxes like your future wife.
And, I have to say until I come across something better, the Bathys is it.
But, $800? Oh my gosh Oh man!
That’s steep. How about $499? I think that’s a better price, and I’ve read about people snagging these for under $300.
The point is, just try and find a deal because I think they are more than worthy of your hard-earned Benjamins.
Just not quite 700-800 of them.
Well, that’s about it for today my friend! I hope you’ve enjoyed this Focal Bathys Review and came away with some valuable insight.
Is it worth $700-$800? Is it a better purchase at say, $400-$500? I would love to hear from you.
If you have any other questions or feel I’ve missed the mark on something, leave a comment down below or Contact me!
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I very much look forward to speaking with you…
All the best and God bless,
-Stu
