I got my hands on a pair of Focal Bathys. They sounded muffled due to some massively low dips (low volume for those particular sections of the frequency response). Not to mention, the soundstage and imaging was non-existent to the point that the audio was playing almost like in my head. It was that claustrophobic and messy. Considering that I was trying to use it for my PC usage including gaming, that kind of non-existent soundstage is bad for audio positioning and knowing where your enemy is at. I even checked it with my REW.
They sounded so bad that even my Apple Airpods Pro and Jabra Elite 85T earbuds sounded way better and have a soundstage at the very least compared to the Focal Bathys headphone. Losing to Airpods and Jabra earbuds meant that its standards are even lower than that of a bunch of wireless earbuds. Goodness. That is a super low standard if I ever see one.
But guess what?
Value Electronics's Headphone Shootout made that headphone beat out the Bowers & Wilkins Px8, Sony MDR-Z7M2 and even the Denon AH-D5200 to take the top spot in its price range category. Out of the 5 criterias for judging, the Focal Bathys failed 4. This includes Dynamic Range, Tonal Balance (it's not even flat), clarity & detail (as mentioned, those dips and peaks meant that this is not going to be possible) and Soundstage Imaging (as mentioned, it completely lacks of). The last criteria was comfort. And that is hard to put a number on that for people with different head sizes.
I can't say for the other headphones in its price range that lost to it. But this looks like a case of trying to make wireless headphones win something. Or even more of a marketing play to ensure increased sales at the end of the day. They are a business after all. They can't make a product lose so badly if it meant ruining their sales for those products in their stores. So they have to make it look good in some way or another.
Either way,
RTings surprisingly confirmed my findings too. They even mentioned the non-existent soundstage that happens for all inputs by the way; Not just Bluetooth. "Since they have a closed-back design, their soundstage doesn't feel very open or spacious. Sound seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you, which doesn't create a very immersive audio experience."
But hey, at the end of the day, RTings's data dump was surprisingly more helpful than the so called neutral testing done by the judges at the VE Headphone Shootout. I've always had my suspicion that a business aiming to sell products can never be completely neutral in their own shootout. This just confirms it. My own findings with REW and my own listening test was in line with what RTings data dump has to say. Maybe it could be different for the TVs since the judges may have a point of reference to refer to and are probably more neutral than those in the audio space. That could also play a part. But for their headphone shootout, either those other 3 headphones are pure hot garbage or what.
But either way, for the price range of the Focal Bathys to lose to a way cheaper mainstream Apple AirPods Pro 2 and Jabra Elite 85T that not only does well in wireless but also in ANC, I can never in my right conscience recommend anyone to buy the Focal Bathys like they did.
