Review in the comments! Vs Sony 1000XM5 and other Focal headphones. I have mixed feelings.
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i have them too, gotten them like 200 bucks cheaper than normal
have no pairing or fitting issues at all and soundwise…they sound very good for closed back bt headphones and i’m not using EQ at all
at first i was a bit disappointed, but after a week or so of using them they grew a lot on me…but my listening preferences are also mostly rock and metal which is very specific in terms of headphones needed
I just got a pair and my main issue is it goes from “This track is a little too quiet” to “oh my God I’m gunna die!” Way too fast
If you’re on Android, go to Developer Options, search for “Disable absolute volume” and turn it on. It gives you more volume steps - the headphones and phone have two separate volume controls.
For DAC mode, there’s no fix. But 3.5mm mode is good with an amp!
If you don’t have Developer Options, you have to go in About -> Software -> Tap “build number” many times to unlock them
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.
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.
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.
Really not a huge fan of the Bathys either. I’d say it was close to a Celestee sound-wise, but being held back by some kind of DSP. The usual Focal slam sounded especially awful on them.
I really wanted to love them since it combined everything I like on paper (very dynamic Focal house sound in a smaller Bluetooth package), but instead they don’t feel as versatile as the more common and feature-packed ANC headphones, while still not sounding as great as proper Focals.
Still better than a stock Elegia I suppose, but it’s also much more expensive and can’t really be “fixed” unlike the Elegia.