It has already been ten years since Focal gave us its first model of headphones, in the form of Spirit One. The first wireless, Listens, it didn’t come until five years later. Both were in the lower premium segment, neither with noise reduction. Today, Focal is primarily known for producing excellent, but expensive, dynamic wired headphones. Real header.
But you can’t just passively sit on the sidelines and watch as competitors sell wireless headphones like butter, many of them with mediocre sound. It’s not enough for people to walk around listening to music with a sound quality that is, at best, a pale shadow of reality.
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We guess Focal has noticed that there is actually a market for adequate premium sound among wireless headphones, when you look at similar headphone prices. Apple And Bang & Olufsenthat people are actually willing to pay.
Focal bati
And now Focal comes with theirs. Called Bathys, they have both Active Noise Reduction and Bluetooth 5.1, as well as their own DAC mode, where you can connect them to your PC or Mac with a USB cable and get true digitally uncompressed hi-fi sound right in your ears.
Bathys can be controlled with an app which, among other things, has an equalization function. But Focal also allows you to control watches with custom buttons to answer calls, change ANC mode and voice control of the phone. You can also stream songs and podcasts.
Premium material
Bathys can be folded and stored in an included carrying case. To give an exclusive impression, genuine leather details have been applied in the cushions and bands, as well as light metals such as aluminum and magnesium in the structure and in the bracket for the upholstery. Both the inside and the outside of the roofs are characterized by an asymmetrical pattern that reflects the acoustic treatment that takes place inside the roofs. Just like inside Celestial focal. The integrated status lights also indicate how the elements are positioned and in which direction the clocks should be. These lights can be adjusted via the app.
Top model memorabilia
Like their premium and high-end head-fi siblings, the Bathys feature a 40mm driver with an M-shaped diaphragm.A dome with an extra ring at the end, to give a shape reminiscent of circular ripples in water. The shape makes the dome noticeably stiffer, so it can be made thinner and lighter (= faster!) Without losing stiffness. We are promised that Bathys delivers “delightful bass, wonderfully resolved midrange, and wonderfully precise treble”.
Like a pair of speakers?
The elements are mounted at an angle to the ears inside the ear cups to provide a better and more accurate stereo image. It should provide a true dynamic speaker listening experience in a room.
Our experience is that angled elements have a function, but because they can’t mimic the crosstalk between the left and right speakers in a room, you’ll never get a matching stereo perspective. It must be said that many people actually prefer the extreme channel separation you get from a pair of headphones, so that’s not necessarily a disadvantage.
The elements of the Focal Bathys are manufactured in the Focal plant in Saint-Etienne, France, and we are promised that they will maintain the “highest level of precision and internal quality control”.
The acoustics are well thought out
The shell design of the Bathys is taken from Focal’s high-end closed models. The anti-phase wave from the back of the element is channeled out of the housing for the lowest possible dynamic distortion. The high frequency resonances are dampened as best as possible, so that the hoods spread the least amount of music into the room, effectively keeping the noise.
The design also allows elements to move more freely within the housings, as they are not subjected to the same amount of compression that results from closed headphones.
Noise reduction
Noise that roofs cannot mechanically exclude is taken care of by active noise reduction.
There are three modes: “Quiet” is selected when there is a lot of noise in the environment, for example on an airplane. “Soft” is almost like turning off the ANC and relying on acoustic attenuation instead, but with some compensation in the bass. “Perfect for office use”, we are promised.
A total of 8 microphones are used for noise reduction itself, for precise management of ambient noise. The ANC is never turned off completely, as according to Focal this will give an uneven sound experience between the different modes.
Also, the so-called Bathy’s ambient sound, or transparent mode. This reverses the noise reduction, so outside sounds are allowed in instead. It can make it safer to travel in dangerous traffic, when the importance of not getting hit outweighs the desire for a noiseless musical experience.
Focal believes the feature is mainly something you use when you want to hear your voice during mobile and video calls. Also known as “side tone”.
DAC mode for the best sound quality
With a built-in 24-bit / 192kHz DAC, Focal Bathys can output high-resolution audio from your computer if you connect it with a USB cable. This should give the best sound. Plus, the battery lasts longer, a whopping 42 hours, if Focal is to be believed.
The headphones can also be used with standard analog cable, for DJs and studios.
Battery life, fast charging and accessories
Bathys supports fast charging via USB-C and provides 5 hours of use after 15 minutes of charging. Battery life is estimated to be 30 hours with Bluetooth ANC, 35 hours with cable and 42 hours in DAC mode.
Included accessories are a carrying case, a 3.5mm mini-jack cable and a USB (USB-C) cable. You must be responsible for the charger yourself.
Focal Bathys: price and availability
Focal Bathys are available in stores from the second week of October. The recommended price is 799 euros.
Further information: focal.com
The Swedish importer is PL Audio
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