The French Focal had not yet ventured into the field of Bluetooth headsets with active noise reduction. It is now done with Bathys, a high-end headset that seeks to restore the Hi-Fi experience dear to Focal during all your travels.
Through a press release shared with the press on October 4, Focal announces the Bathys, its first wireless headphones with active noise reduction. With this new product available now, the French audio specialist wants us to benefit from a high-end experience based on its “ acoustic know-how“.
To do this, Focal relies in particular on loudspeakers made in France, in its workshops located in Saint-Étienne. In its press release, the brand lends them a sound mixing “adeep bass, smooth highs and clear vocals“, and specifies that a USB-DAC mode is also available in addition to Bluetooth 5.1 multipoint. This mode then offers a 24-bit, 192 Hz resolution that Hi-Fi enthusiasts should appreciate. It should therefore allow you to enjoy listening to music not only without the compression of Bluetooth, but by using the DAC of the headphones and recharging it at the same time.
The AirPods Max will now seem affordable to you…
The Focal Bathys, which claims more than 30 hours of autonomy (and 5 hours of additional listening in 15 minutes of fast charging), is for the rest compatible with the Bluetooth audio codecs SBC, AAC, aptX and aptX Adaptive. Finally, it has two noise reduction modes: the “Silentoptimized for environments with high ambient noise, and the modeSoftthought to promote concentration at home or at the office this time. Of course, a modeTransparency» is also relevant for listening to your favorite songs while remaining fully aware of your surroundings.
Source: Focal
Source: Focal
Source: Focal
Focal also announces Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant compatibility via its application. The latter also offers access to an equalizer allowing you to adjust the audio experience to your liking. Supplied with two cables (3.5 mm jack and USB-C), and delivered in a carrying case, the Focal Bathys offers for the rest a premium construction with the use of magnesium in addition to aluminum, and leather for the hoop. The Focal logo on the ear cups is finally equipped with an optionally activatable backlighting system.
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The big problem with the Focal Bathys, however, is its price: 799 euros. A prohibitive price that makes this new headset one of the most expensive Bluetooth / ANC models on the market at the end of 2022. For comparison, Apple’s AirPods Max are offered at “only» €629.
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