Focal Bathys

[Music1969]

the reason for the 800-900Hz dip (apparently a by-product of the ANC implementation if I understand the video well ?).

Where in the video is it mentioned that this dip could be due to ANC ? I didn't hear that part

 

[MayaTlab]

Where in the video is it mentioned that this dip could be due to ANC ? I didn't hear that part

Quite normal, it isn't there . My apologies, it's an over-interpretation on my end of that article : https://headphones.com/community/reviews-learning-and-news/focal-bathys-first-impressions

 

[poxymoron]

Quite normal, it isn't there . My apologies, it's an over-interpretation on my end of that article : https://headphones.com/community/reviews-learning-and-news/focal-bathys-first-impressions

I read that too and came to the same conclusion as you.

 

[MayaTlab]

0db's video :

EDIT : the article has also been posted online : https://www.0db.co.kr/REVIEW_0DB/2566275

 

[MayaTlab]

Mmm... the discrepancy looks significant.

I double-checked the digitisation process but perhaps I still f*cked something up.

Resolve mentioned that the Bathys are sensitive to coupling and his graph's individual traces show more variation than some other headphones he measured in the 1-6kHz band - albeit not enough to match the difference here.

 

[Resolve]

Mmm... the discrepancy looks significant.
View attachment 236297
I double-checked the digitisation process but perhaps I still f*cked something up.

Resolve mentioned that the Bathys are sensitive to coupling and his graph's individual traces show more variation than some other headphones he measured in the 1-6kHz band - albeit not enough to match the difference here.

Yeah these - along with the other closed-back Focals are extremely sensitive to coupling variation. So it wouldn't surprise me if there's quite a big difference across results (and potentially across users?). I never got a result that looked that dark though as what the other measurements here indicate.

 

[MayaTlab]

Some additional measurements from Resolve and VSG (Techpowerup). I believe that VSG uses a different pinna unless I'm mistaken (so perhaps not directly comparable).
I find it interesting to notice that even though they feature a feedback mechanism the only commonality to be found is up to 300-400Hz (if you were to normalise the traces at around 200Hz) and that the dip above changes so much relative to below 300-400 Hz between VSG's measurements and the others.

 

[Resolve]

View attachment 237297
Some additional measurements from Resolve and VSG (Techpowerup). I believe that VSG uses a different pinna unless I'm mistaken (so perhaps not directly comparable).
I find it interesting to notice that even though they feature a feedback mechanism the only commonality to be found is up to 300-400Hz (if you were to normalise the traces at around 200Hz) and that the dip above changes so much relative to below 300-400 Hz between VSG's measurements and the others.

Alternate 1 and 2 are the same headphone. Just with different positioning (a different unit from the first one though).

 

[staticV3]

@MayaTlab could you please normalize the graph at like 125-150Hz? Should improve readability

 

[MayaTlab]

Alternate 1 and 2 are the same headphone. Just with different positioning (a different unit from the first one though).

Thanks for the clarification.

@MayaTlab could you please normalize the graph at like 125-150Hz? Should improve readability

I'm not quite certain that it's a good idea to include VSG's graphs in a direct comparison to be honest.

Resolve's and 0dB's difference in the 1-4kHz range is not something I'm too surprised to see on a "coupling sensitive" pair of ANC headphones in general, but the feedback and coupling behaviour of the Bathys may deserve a bit more investigation.

@Resolve I believe that your rig uses SoundGoodStore's frame (and no longer the 43AG as is) - or am I wrong ? Do you know if the plates and headphones support are at the same distance and angle as a 45CA ?

 

[Resolve]

Thanks for the clarification.



View attachment 237547

I'm not quite certain that it's a good idea to include VSG's graphs in a direct comparison to be honest.

Resolve's and 0dB's difference in the 1-4kHz range is not something I'm too surprised to see on a "coupling sensitive" pair of ANC headphones in general, but the feedback and coupling behaviour of the Bathys may deserve a bit more investigation.

@Resolve I believe that your rig uses SoundGoodStore's frame (and no longer the 43AG as is) - or am I wrong ? Do you know if the plates and headphones support are at the same distance and angle as a 45CA ?

It's an upright fixture with effectively 2 43AGs mounted at an angle meant to emulate a 45CA, or think like - two RA0402s with KB5000 pinna. The only difference is that there's adjustment for width to emulate different sized heads if necessary. And yeah they have the slight outward angle as well.

 

[staticV3]

@MayaTlab once normalized at 125Hz, your graph reminds me a lot of the Airpods Max:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-noise-cancelling-headphone.25609/post-873432
(minus VSG's measurement)

 

[MayaTlab]

@MayaTlab once normalized at 125Hz, your graph reminds me a lot of the Airpods Max:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-noise-cancelling-headphone.25609/post-873432
(minus VSG's measurement)

The 900Hz dip is a significant difference between them still and one that I'm not certain can be easily explained for now. I'm also skeptical that the variation exhibited comes from the same cause(s).
Anyway, it's quite fascinating to see headphones manufacturers seemingly being quite challenged by the task of designing a pair of ANC over-ears and perhaps having to make hard choices when engineering them, and I can't wait to have more data on how these designs translate and vary from fixtures to real humans (I hope that Harman's latest blocked ear canal entrance comparisons involve several ANC over-ears and that they'll publish it...)

 

[Hephaestus]

I'm also not 100% on what causes the 900hz dip, but I need to do more testing with the headphone in more modes. At the moment though, it seems all BT ANC modes have the same FR.

For the 5909, I think there's been at least one additional firmware change that affected the FR since I took that measurement - I could be mistaken there but I at least want to double check.

Mark Levinson dropped firmware version 1.5.0.8 today for the 5909 headphones.

 

[MayaTlab]

I've been made aware of that video where the presenter makes an interesting comment at the 12min mark :

So, apparently, the Bathys would have an always on crossfeed ? That should be measurable I guess.
Also, he links the 900Hz dip to that feature. Is there a plausible explanation why the two would be related ?

 

[Dismayed]

Definitely get an expensive wireless headphone so that you can throw it in the trash when the batteries die in a few years.

I think I heard in one of the reviews that Focal has announced that the Bathys battery will be replaceable. No price for the service has been announced.

 

[ahofer]

Surprised they chose a name so close to bathos.

 

[HiFiQUEST]

Amazing Headphones really! Could not be happier with them since they offer everything that I was looking for in a headphone. They look the part too. I cannot get enough of them and find myself walking my dog much more than before just to use them

 

[markrubin]

Beware Focal Bathys firmware update 1.5.1: it breaks the volume control functions when paired with many BT devices: no way to revert back

 

[Dismayed]

Beware Focal Bathys firmware update 1.5.1: it breaks the volume control functions when paired with many BT devices: no way to revert back

I have the same problem with volume controls.