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Focal Bathys - Critical review (vs XM5 and others) (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by Livestock110@alien.top to c/headphones@hi-fi.community

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Review in the comments! Vs Sony 1000XM5 and other Focal headphones. I have mixed feelings.

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[–] One_Curious_Cats@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I have the Sony and Bathys. I can't stand the muddled sound from the Sony's. The Sonys have better ANC, but at the cost of sound quality. The soundstage on the Bathys is much better.

[–] Livestock110@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'd recommend an AutoEQ app, like Poweramp Equalizer or something else. The Rtings preset for XM5 sounds great. I tweaked it a bit, and it sounds clearer than Bathys now. Technicalities are pretty close, surprisingly.

Bathys still has a wider stage, but I can't fix the timbre and bass issues with EQ.

[–] One_Curious_Cats@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

The wider stage issue is probably due to that the Sony ones use more passive noise cancelling. It gives Sony great ANC, but it hurts the sound quality which gives them that muddled sound that I just can't fix.