tubularfool

So I got my Bathys today.

First impressions - a bit underwhelmed TBH and very glad I only spent about 60% of full retail.

Vs APM, the timber and sound of instruments and layers is definitely better but not dramatically so.

After an hour or so of quick, limited unscientific A/B testing from Tidal:

1. APM wider soundstage and Bathys better imaging/placement
2. APM deeper bass, better subbase but Bathys tighter bass
3. APM much more comfortable and adjustable, I don't have an exceptionally big head but I am nearly maxing the band on the Focals out - I have so much room for adjustment in the APM
4. APM cooler on the ears! Focals get warm quick due to clamp and pad material
5. Volume steps on the Bathys are *dreadful* - no fine control from the device volume buttons at all. Hopefuly they fix this in a FW update.
6. Bathys feel cheaper in terms of build, buttons and materials IMO
7. Battery life undoubtable better for the Bathys assuming they live up to spec.

It will take a while to give them a fair shake and I know it can take a while to appreciate a new set of cans, but honestly leaning to selling them on as they are nowhere near better sounding enough Vs the APM to overlook the areas they are worse in.

I worry that you say you get "distortion" using them wirelessly.

It could be that you have a faulty pair, though more likely you are listening too loudly and will damage your hearing.

I am a big fan of my APM - they are an easy listen, comfortable, ANC is great and for an Apple Ecosystem user (phone, laptop etc) they are a joy to use.

I just ordered some Bathys last week in the sale here in NZ for around US$480 and should get my hands on them this week.

I had a brief listen in the store and they sounded great, but looking forward to giving them a proper assessment shortly. Indeed I see my use cases for the APM and the Focals very similar to yours.

I don't think I would have bought them full price, but with that discount, they became pretty attractive!

p. Hey - I am always open to learning from the experts!

j. If you can teach me or show me the best resource to understand the terminology that I don't understand, then I am all yours.

r. "Note Weight" as per OP is a good start and I would love to get to grips with "Musicality".

t. biggest brained arr headphones user

I know most of those words, but I am having trouble parsing this.

That's probably on me dude - apologies.

Hmm - I think you may have actually been listening to eggs.

Common mistake for a beginner audiophile to make.

A meaningless, subjective and unquantifiable property that some audiophiles like to apply to gear - in the same way that Wine Nerds say things like "Has notes of unwashed Levis, enmeshed with a hint of a teen mother's regret" when reviewing some cheap Merlot.

See also "musicality", "texture", "immediacy", "slam" etc...

Very likely involved at one or more components of the total supply chain, yes.

If not the main construction, then in the gathering or the processing of the resources and materials that go into the end product.

Yes, them.

Because they are made with cheap components and materials by indentured workers to indifferent levels of QC?

Got some new Focal Bathys for the US$ equivalent of $460.

Not arrived yet.

Like most ANC, wireless headphones, the XM5 is designed to work optimally with its own built in DAC and AMP.

Whenever you switch them "on" they will always be using the internal architecture - I think you *can* use them powered off via 3.5mm but they will not sound their best.

Your best bet with them is just to use them over Bluetooth using LDAC and "quality" preference from the Sony app.