Focal Bathys Headphone Review

Features

From the moment you open the box, the Bathys modern and luxurious design stands out with its aesthetic curves, authentic leather wrapped headband and Focal’s signature flame on the center of the earcup.

The Bathys comes with your typical headphone jack along with a USB-C connector that allows you to use the built-in DAC. Another standout feature is Focal’s new app to adjust EQ to fine tune the sound to your personal taste and adjust the light on the focal emblem. After making some tweaks myself, I was surprised at how much customization it allows. Adding the noise cancellation features into the mix, you can completely cut out background noise on a plane or in a crowded office with “Silent” mode. Listening to music on my laptop while my wife is watching a movie is a regular occurrence in our house and silent mode certainly does its job of eliminating the noise. Transparency mode is perfect for those occasions when you want to listen to music but still need to hear your surroundings. While you may still have to take one ear off for the occasional “huh?” you can still carry on a conversation pretty easily.

Hands-On Experience

Now for the fun part. I put these headphones through the ringer and listened to a pretty wide variety of songs from different eras and genres. Every time I put them on, I didn’t want to take them off. Although the Bluetooth feature does not disappoint by any means, I spent most of my time with these headphones connected to the built-in DAC which makes each song a little clearer and offers more dynamic sound than you would experience using Bluetooth.

I started with “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, my absolute favorite track for testing any audio device. The detail in the kick drum in the first few seconds of the song and the incredible clarity in the vocals makes it feel like you’re right there in the recording studio with them. To say I was impressed would be an understatement.

I moved on to another favorite of mine, “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits. I can listen to the first two minutes of this song over and over again on any system, but it was an experience on the Bathys. Again, the clarity of the vocals was impressive leading into a powerful and explosive guitar solo.

Next up is “Another Brick in The Wall” Part 2 by Pink Floyd. While I’m not a huge Pink Floyd fan, the way they recorded their tracks gives such a clear presentation, making it the perfect song to test the limits of these headphones. For this track, my main focus is the separation. Between the guitar and the vocals, especially in the chorus, it was hitting on all cylinders between each ear giving it the same effect you would get from a full surround sound system.

To shake things up a bit, I threw on “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd. For this track, it's the dynamics and bass reproduction that I’m paying attention to and these headphones were able to handle everything this track threw at it. The bass blends into the song rather than a more “in your face” approach to bass. As with all things sound, this particular topic is subjective to each individual. While I’m a fan of the more seamless bass, that may not be the case for everyone.

As someone who often decides to sit down and relax to some music or a new movie, only to find that the headphones have 10% battery life, the fact that a quick 15 minute charge can give you 5 listening hours is a significant selling factor. Plus, the comfort level of these headphones is hard to beat. After listening off and on for a couple weeks for hours at a time, I’ve yet to run into that gnawing ear pain that we all know too well from most over ear headphones. Paired with the sophisticated carrying case and the lightweight and robust construction, the Bathys make a perfect travel companion.