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.

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 recently bought the Focal Clear MG. I really like the sound of these cans. I bought the Bathys a few days ago since they were on sale. I agree that the Focal Clear MG is a step up from Bathys, but sometimes I have to work in a noisy environment, and the Bathys are really good with excellent sound and decent space/staging. Also, for gaming or zoom calls, the Bathys works great with V-MODA BoomPro, which is pretty good at not picking up background noise.

Doesn’t the Sony ones rely more on passive noise insulation compared to the Airpods?

I hesitated on the Focals so many times. Adding it to the shopping cart, removing them, adding them, then I found this one post that pointed out that for the higher-end headphones, the difference is so small. On top of that, Focals supposedly were really good for electronic music, which is what I listen to 70% of the time. On top of that, they look amazing.

Focal Clear MG for me.

We don’t all hear sound the same way. So, no matter how many reviews you read or watch, in the end, you have to decide if this is the right product for you and the type of music that you like to listen to.

I’ve bought several pairs (four) of AirPods.

I’ve never had one fail, except that time when I accidentally put them in the washer and dryer.

The second time I made that mistake, they survived just fine.

Often they just throw a hundred mixed products in a large box and sell the box. You can get some really nice random finds in these. Of course it’s now your problem to get rid of all the crap items in the box.

A simple solution is to buy the Vmoda BoomPro Microphone. This will give you a regular mini jack connector that you can plug into your computer. I use this solution for my WH-1000xM3’s. Bluetooth always adds lag and this is terrible for gaming.