​Introducing the Focal Bathys

The Focal Bathys are a set of wireless over-ear headphones with active noise cancelling and built-in digital-to-analogue converter (DAC). They are Focal’s first-ever set of wireless noise cancelling headphones but, like the brand’s portfolio of innovative products, deliver extraordinarily high-fidelity sound.

Thanks to their built-in DAC, Focal Bathys achieve incredibly powerful Hi-Fi sound over Bluetooth; the kind you’d expect from a lossless wired connection. Better still, they are operable via USB-C or 3.5 mm jack; therefore, capable of reaching even higher Hi-Fi standards.

If you’re a frequent flier, listen in! The Bathys are a must-have for travel. Not only do leather memory-foam earcups and a padded leather headband ensure your lasting comfort over long listening sessions, but active noise cancellation shuts out the outside world. Whether on a short train journey or long-haul flight, noise cancellation will make all the difference to your mood.

The first impressions are good, right? But of course, you’ll be keen to hear about their features and sound performance…

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What can the Bathys do?

Of course, the main draw of the Bathys is the option of having Focal’s incredible, rich sound in a portable, Bluetooth format. However, that’s far from the only thing they are capable of.

Noise Cancellation

Active noise cancelling makes it easier to tune out your surroundings and focus on what you want to hear. Three distinct settings give you flexibility:

• ‘Silent’, offers total cancellation of external noise
• ‘Soft’, provides partial attenuation but lets you hear your surroundings if and when you might need to
• ‘Transparent’, turns any noise cancelling off for a more typical listening experience.

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Controls

Focal has developed a wireless control app to adjust settings and achieve the ideal sound. Select from multiple compatible Bluetooth codecs (SBC, AAC, aptX or aptX), and adjust their sound with 5-band EQ. You can even name and save your settings for later.

There are plenty of physical control options on the headphones too. Plastic buttons for playback ensure that you don’t accidentally trigger capacitive touch controls while adjusting your headphones.

Moreover, compatibility with voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant means you can tell your headphones what to do just by interfacing with a tablet or smartphone. Four different built-in microphones on each ear cup offer voice pickup for making phone calls, voice recording, accessing voice assistants, and picking up external noise for cancellation.

Battery Life

The Bathys grant up to 30 hours of battery life when streaming wirelessly via Bluetooth. Whilst they also require battery charge for wired listening, you could achieve 35 hours of entertainment when connected by minijack and 42 hours via USB-C.

If you’re in a hurry to revive a drained battery, the quick-charge feature grants you up-to 5 hours of battery in only 15 minutes! What’s not to love?

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How Do the Focal Bathys Sound?

The Bathys delivers a full, detailed frequency response from 15 Hz to 22 kHz, encompassing an expansive range from deep, defined sub-bass to crisp treble. This is all balanced with a smooth and even mid-range that makes it easy to pick out every individual element of a track.

Everything is well-defined, while accurately reflecting the key elements of every song’s mix. Combined with a wide and spacious sound field, these headphones deliver a full, rich recreation of your favourite music.

Inspired by the Bathyscaphe, the very first submarine exploration vehicle, Focal have named the Bathys in line with the ethos for their active noise cancelling, reflecting tranquility, depth and total silence. The Noise cancelling and incredibly detailed sound helps it live up to this time fully.

The Bathys’ sound is further enhanced by the inclusion of a DAC, which is an extremely welcome addition. Operating at a high 24-bit resolution with a 192 kHz sample rate, the included conversion really helps to define the sound of these headphones, ensuring you won’t have to compromise on sound, or purchase a separate converter.

Final Thoughts

With everything these headphones are capable of, the Bathys are quite hard to fault. They are, in our opinion, one of the best-sounding wireless headphones on the market today.

While there has been some competition emerging in the premium wireless headphone market, Focal have earned their place in the upper echelon of Hi-Fi listening on-the-go.

Excellent sound quality, a lightweight and comfortable build, plenty of battery life, flexible sound customization, and broad connectivity make the Focal Bathys an extremely strong first entry into the world of noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones.

Are you interested in the Focal Bathys or wanting to see how they stack up against other noise cancelling headphones? Browse the range of over-ear headphones now on AV.com.