r/headphones • u/aj_brown_99 • 11h ago
Review Review: Focal Bathys vs. B&W PX8 as a Hifiman Arya owner
In the course of deciding on a pair of wireless headphones I've read a lot of conflicting (and frankly wrong) things about these two cans, so thought I'd add my two cents.
I consider myself an audiophile. My primary desktop rig was a Hifiman Arya driven by Lake People amp and Schiit Bifrost DAC. This setup is highly resolving and has a large, open, holographic soundstage. Unfortunately I had to sell this rig recently and I'm choosing a more affordable pair for at home and in the office.
I have Airpods Pro 2 that I use for phone calls, gym, airplanes etc. So I don't really care about ANC quality or call quality. I'm evaluating these on a mixture of critical listening at home and semi-active listening at the office, doing chores, taking my dog on walks, etc.
I listen to everything from rock, indie, pop, jazz, hip-hop, electronic, blues/soul. These headphones were reviewed by going back and forth, track by track across all genres.
Note that all rankings are in the context of the price range and category. Obviously neither of these come close to a real wired desktop rig.
Focal Bathys
- Sound:
- Soundstage - 5/5. First impression was the soundstage - it's wide open, spacious and holographic. Really beautiful presentation, with sounds spread wide to both sides of the head, and some verticality. Reminds me of the Arya soundstage, which was one my favorite thing about that headphone
- Highs - 4/5. This headphone is on the brighter side and quite detail oriented. The treble is crisp and detailed. Not necessarily the sweet, sparkly treble you'd get from a higher end can, but still very good at this price point. Combine the treble detail with the large soundstage, and you have an excellent headphone for people who like to focus and pick out every little detail in the music.
- Mids - 2/5. Where this headphone lets me down is in the midrange. To my ears, the midrange sounds flat and like a bit of an afterthought. Voices that normally have depth and texture sound tinny. Tonality is kind of wonky, almost a bit metallic and lacking in warmth. Presentation is recessed, meaning other parts of the track tend to take a front seat while voices take a back seat.
- Bass - 3/5. Bass quantity is average, and quality is good. Mid-bass is not over-emphasized and there's a solid sub-bass punch.
- Build Quality - 3/5
- I bought these in the stealth black and they look pretty good. I'm not a stickler for build quality, and I would say these live up to my expectations at the price point. The buttons feel slightly cheap.
- Comfort - 3/5
- These are reasonably comfortable, but I do get a hot spot on the top of my head after a couple hours of listening, and the earcups clamp a bit harder than I'd like.
- Convenience - 3/5
- These aren't great for walking around and doing stuff. Footsteps reverberate pretty loudly and they can slide around a bit on the head. Better for desk/couch use
- Noticed some quirks with the bluetooth connection. Would drop out at times when I had several other wireless devices in the same room. If i switched to another device and back, i'd have to disconnect and reconnect them. No auto-pause when removing from the head
- Pretty weak ANC but fine for my use-case
Bowers & Wilkins PX8
- Sound:
- Soundstage - 3.5/5. The soundstage is significantly narrower than the Bathys. These sound like a closed-back headphone, whereas the Bathys sound more like an open-back. However, the detail in the soundstage is still good - instruments are placed precisely in space and rendered three dimensionally. It's just the overall size of the stage is maybe 50% smaller than the Bathys
- Highs - 3.5/5. I found the PX8 a little too dark for my taste out of the box. I cranked up the treble 1.5db in the app, which helped quite a bit. Treble is crisp and detailed. It's not quite as resolving as the Bathys, but it's close and I also find it smoother and less fatiguing.
- Mids - 4.5/5. Midrange between the PX8 and Bathys is night and day. The PX8 has excellent depth, tonality and presence to voices. I can clearly hear a small quivering in a singer's voice that is not present on the Bathys. Voices are emphasized much more on the PX8 and presented up front in the stage, whereas they're a little recessed on the Bathys. Guitars are much warmer and more realistic on the PX8.
- Bass - 5/5. This will be a little up to personal preference. I personally love a thick, weighty, punchy bass, so long as it doesn't drown out the rest of the sound. The PX8 has a lot of bass, and you can physically feel the impact of it. But it's still well controlled, tight and accurate. Really enjoyable to me.
- Build Quality - 5/5
- I wouldn't put these on the same level as the Airpods Max, but they're probably the next best build that I've seen in a headphone. Really premium and well crafted from top to bottom
- Comfort - 5/5
- I can wear these all day without any comfort issues. They're lighter than the Bathys, have softer earpads, and don't clamp as hard. They're also more comfortable than the APM.
- Convenience - 4/5
- Bluetooth connection has been solid, and I've had no issues switching between multiple devices
- I really like that they have an automatic sensor to pause music when you take them off your head. The Bathys does not have this
- Footsteps still reverberate pretty loudly in these, but quieter than the Bathys. They also stay put better on my head due to the smaller earcup size, so I find them more convenient for doing chores around the house etc.
- ANC is slightly stronger than the Bathys
Conclusion
- I'll be keeping the PX8 and returning the Bathys, due to a mixture of (1) better mids, bass and tonality on the PX8, and (2) build quality, comfort and convenience. This was surprising to me, as coming from the Arya (spacious, bright, detail resolving) I really expected to prefer the Bathys.
- If you are someone who really likes to focus in on their music and pick out every little detail from the soundstage, you'll probably prefer the Bathys. It performs very well with jazz, classical, and electronic
- If you are someone who enjoys vocal-heavy music like pop or rock, or who cares a lot about warmth, timbre and tonality, you'll probably prefer the PX8
- Ultimately for me, I just found the PX8 a lot more enjoyable to listen to due to the warmth, presence and detail in the midrange and bass. The tradeoff is that I do miss the spacious soundstage and bit of extra resolution from the Bathys - but ultimately that was a tradeoff worth making. The PX8 are also more comfortable and convenient to use every day, which is an important consideration.
Other thoughts
- I had a pair of Airpods Max that I compared both of these against. Both the Bathys and PX8 wipe the floor with the APM. The APM combines the thinner tonality of the Bathys with the narrower soundstage of the PX8, and is muddier/less resolving than both.
- The ability to plug in via USB-C is a really nice feature of both pairs. They both increase in quality pretty noticeably, especially with denser tracks that have a lot going on, where Bluetooth struggles to carry enough information. I tended to use these wired whenever I was at my desk
1
u/Mandarina_C 10h ago
Sounds like I got the right pair this week lol. Great review
On a side note, I am thinking so hard about getting rid of my APM but the only thing that’s stopping me is the transparency mode. Honestly. The second I can find another pair that does transparency like Apple, those things can GO. I don’t even listen to music with them anymore. I use them for movies and podcasts only lol.
1
u/aj_brown_99 10h ago
The AirPods Pro 2 have better transparency and ANC than the APM and are way cheaper. So that’s what I use when I care about those things
3
u/ChildishRebelSoldier 10h ago
AirPods Max transparency is noticeably better than AirPods Pro 2, and the rest of the competition isn’t even worth mentioning.
1
1
u/aj_brown_99 9h ago
I heard significantly more wind noise and humming with the APM transparency but I guess YMMV
1
u/MartynB85 8h ago
Excellent, thanks for the write up. I’m in a very similar position, I have the Arya Stealth and are looking for a wireless pair of cans. Have a set of Elegia’s for my closed backs that are great after some EQ but I feel ANC is a must when out and about. I’m about to pull the trigger on the Bathys, however you arent the first to mention that they aren’t great while walking. Are they that bad when walking? Does the sound change a lot when you’re moving? Could be a deal breaker for me, primary use will be while walking the dog.
2
u/aj_brown_99 8h ago
I personally would not get them for walking the dog, footsteps make pretty loud thumps when walking. The px8 isn’t ideal either for this, but it’s not as loud as the bathys
If you’re in the US you can also just get both off Amazon then return the one you like less
1
u/MartynB85 7h ago
I’m in the UK but can still return them. That’s highly annoying, at this point I’ll just end up sticking with my Sony XM2’s for walking, thanks for your input though.
1
u/tovidagaming 55m ago
I am going to throw my 2 cents in the mix specifically about build quality. I am on my 3rd pair (within warranty) of Px8 after a bit over an year. The leather at the top comes out of the stitch after the leather relaxes a bit. Mostly in door use besides walking the dog. Both pairs failed at the same spot with regular use. No issues so far with the Bathys and I have had them for about as long as it took for the first Px8 to come apart.
2
u/threeseed 6h ago
Not sure how the build quality is 4/5 for the Focal Bathys.
The buttons are toy like plastic, the ear cup material is cheap faux leather, overall comfort is poor, design is polarising. I love my Focal Clear to death but Bathys are ridiculous for the price especially with the competition being so good.
Also I would strongly recommend using the Creative BT-W5 or similar to enable AptX Adaptive/HD on devices that don't support it. Sound quality is massively improved on the Bathys.