Was not even considering getting Bathys secondary to price and very capable competitors, but after experiencing Clear from Focal, decided to try. Was somewhat disappointed at first as these sounded dull, but then after ~20 hrs of running it on medium volume they started to sound well.
Read moreSome folks think it's nonsense, and I used to be skeptical until "burning in" B&W p9 years ago turned it into a marvel. Anyway...
Pluses: detailed and ... ?gentle? sound for the lack of better term. Not as airy as open Clears, but there is still similar level of details that on one hand are desirable, on another are not getting "in your face". They do require "proper" quality files, period. Bass is just right, I've EQ'd it up a notch though in the app. Comfortable. Good isolation, even with glasses on. Useful (for me) app as I've adjusted treble according to the age-related loss of hearing from 18k+. Appearance: subjectively nicer than alternatives, kudos to French; logos can light up as an option too (sort of useless, but definitely cool). Has internal DAC, technically a plus, doubt will ever use it. Got them under the heavy rain twice while walking the dog, no issues. Great case.
Minuses: somewhat bulky and heavy, but producing solid feel by the same token, so may not be a minus per se. Just mediocre noise suppression. Controls are standard, not overly intuitive, feel cheap. Instead of ?on? and ?off? tone it would be nice to hear the percentage of charge left. App EQ: simple and it works; no idea why it felt unreasonable (for the price of the product) for Focal to use 10-band EQ.
The search for the ?perfect? headphones will never end of course, and these are far from perfect. So, here is the thing: if you use high quality streaming service or playing quality music from your library ?Bathys will make you want to listen more, guaranteed. Otherwise, for half a price flagship Bose probably will do, with better noise suppression and various colour options.
