Focal Bathys vs Focal Celestee Comparison and Review

[@ic2433]

Very good review, great detail in your description that most people will be able to understand.

[@LakerTriangle]

Thanks for the thoughts and review!

[@ximian]

“If you’ve got this far and have read ‘Bathys’ as both “Bath-ees” and “Battys”, let us tell you that the former is correct, as the naming comes from the word ‘bathyscaphe’, the first submarine exploration vehicle. Focal says that the vessel is “the embodiment of calm, depth and absolute silence” - a metaphorical summation of its latest headphones. Well, there you go.” from a What Hi-Fi? article

[@Chronospherics]

What I find funny, is that there's no IPX rating. Focals Bathy's aren't even splash proof. That's not a serious knock at them, I have a pair and love them, but I think given the name... maybe they should be waterpoof too. They're not especially silent either, the ANC is not class leading... Like I say, love them, especially the sound and comfort, but the name... I'm not so sure.

[@T.R.A.N.C.E]

I'm waiting on someone to compare Focal Bathys to B&W PX8 to decide my next headphone.

[@JeffJacquesmd]

I wonder if the Radiance would have been a better comparison point. As I understand the tuning is closer to the Radiance on the Bathys. Very informative overview Thanks J

[@shamimulhasan3287]

Very Good review. I own Utopia, otherwise I would have gone for Bathys. Just a correction based upon my use of Utopia. Besides aesthetics, the asymmetrical design has a purpose. Soon you will learn that to put L and R cons on your L and R ears. place the wider side on your back. You will never go wrong. And you do not have to search for L and R inscriptions on the set. This design becomes of great use on wireless sets where you do not have the cable to differentiate between L and R channels

[@trilingualkid]

they're two completely different headphone...

[@Alpha13733]

I have the Celestee myself, picked up the Bathys yesterday. Totally different headphones and very nice to use while travelling, compared to the celestee

[@newsigmundfreud3023]

Thanks for you input. What would you say sound wise Bathys vs Utopia (2020)?

[@pa1nk1ller14]

Great review! I own celestees and thinking of getting bathys for wireless listening and im happy to hear that they are quite different in tuning. One question tho: Can you use Bathys wired through jack on OFF mode with a dac / amp, or the built in dac of Bathys needs to be used? Thanks a lot!

[@titienne3931]

Unfortunately, you cannot use the headphones while they're powered off I believe. It lists 35h ish hours when wired with a 3.5mm jack, so I assume you can't bypass the built in DAC/AMP in that way. It might change the sound signature since you'd be byamping the headphones, but not sure if it'd make that big of a difference.

[@allansh828]

they sound almost identical. I have both. The Bathys sounds just like Celestee on Naim amp, if you use DAC mode instead of bluetooth. Bathys on DAC mode is more detailed and images better than Celestee on Mojo 2. I suspect the reviewer didn’t drive Celestee properly and uses bluetooth with Bathys that hides high frequency details.

[@pa1nk1ller14]

@@allansh828 thanks for the info mate. I guess I'll have to keep one of them then. Also, is it true that you can't use them off via external dac / amp?

[@allansh828]

@@pa1nk1ller14 In jack mode, you can use a decent external DAC such as Hugo 2 to improve clarity a little bit. I speculate, to deal with shrunken size, the ANC soft mode is introduced to minic the passive absorption structure of other big Focal closed backs. Because of it, Bathys can't work without the internal amplification with DSP.

[@caseyHRC]

I have Bang & Olufsen H95...I am thinking about Celestee, but I have heard they have quite intimate soundstage. Does anyone experience with both or just what I should expect from Celestee if I own H95? Thanks

[@MarkDavidBlack]

I had the Celestee's and returned them. I now have the Bathys (it's pronounced "Batees") it's french. But anyway I liked the soundstage better on the Celestees but for my use case the Bathys was a no brainer having blutooth.

[@cine-ish]

the celestee has no soundstage lmao

[@PantsaBear]

@@cine-ish It doesnt lol. I actually really like how intimate it sounds though. Its pretty unique for a closed back to sound this in your head, with this much noise isolation, but also has a ton of details in the sound. The bass being great but not booming, and the mids and treble never coming off as harsh also make them amazing.

[@sleepyrhythms6668]

I don’t understand listening to Focal headphones on transparent sources. Celestee has brightness and zing, so use something like a Class A/B amp like an Asgard 3. I heard them off a Feliks Audio Envy at CanJam and enjoy the Clear on a Feliks Echo. Same with Elex. Match the character of your favorite headphones with synergistic gear. Focal just doesn’t mesh great with flat sounding stuff.

[@18yearsoldnot]

Thank you! Would you generally avoid focal if you prefer warm sound signature? I have chord mojo 2 which has eq… but I read focal has this metallic timbre which irks me. I plan on getting ath wp900

[@aceofspades6667]

Thanks I own Celestee + ifi go blu so extremely relevant to me. I heard these were tuned more towards Radiance than Celestee these are more v shaped curve.

[@aceofspades6667]

The x bass and x space on go blu can be fun to eq the Celestee a bit

[@allansh828]

Celestee really needs a desktop amplifier to have soundstage and imaging.

[@aceofspades6667]

@@allansh828 I have a bunch of headphones and a bunch of nice amps. I think out of all of my headphones the Celestees are the easiest to drive and scale the least. Perhaps with my tube amps they are 5-10% better than on ifi go blu.

[@jyexe525]

With Ifi go blu you don’t need to be linked in your smartphone ?

[@ayewhite333]

I have the Elegia and an iFi Go Bar, and can’t help but feel a bit disappointed with the bass. Do you think (for roughly the same price) the bass on the Bathys is substantially better?

[@MajorHiFi]

The Bathys definitely has heavier bass and an overall darker and thicker sound character.

[@18yearsoldnot]

ANC headphones have a lot of dsp processing using dynamic eq (which is eq that has a mathematical damping function) so it will sound thicker without clipping… So will most of the time come out on top of passive headphones when it comes to bass especially with dance music and movies, but classical music is an exception where normal eq is better at separating the instruments as opposed to the dynamic eq used in anc headphones. I would also look into if you can get leather pads because that is one trick that the bathys uses to enhance isolation and bass

[@stoney77]

It's actually pronounced "bat-teese". (I watched an introductory video from Focal). Thanks for the review. Lots of good info.

[@MajorHiFi]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXyraIyIfdZmn7M

[@revertnicolas5977]

@@humm6155 focal is french...

[@gwapster13]

bat TEES is what i hear English speaking reviewers call it, with emphasis on the second syllable, which is wrong too. Trying to sound French but not really. 😂 So pronouncing it with an English accent is actually the better thing to do.

[@twodogstudio2]

I am on the fence but I need a fairly large ear cup to be comfortable and these seem quite a bit smaller than the other Focal models, I had a Utopia for a year or so and it was perfect size but I am worried the Bathys might be to small for my seemingly large ears?

[@MajorHiFi]

I didn't really find the Bathys to have particularly large or small earcups, fairly standard size in terms of ANC over-ears if that's of any help. I will say that the PX8 from bowers & wilkins might be worth a look because it has particularly long earcups (though a bit narrow). That being said they sound pretty different, but you can check out my PX8 review to get a sense for what I'm talking about!

[@twodogstudio2]

@@MajorHiFi oh thank you so much, so you don't feel the Bathys are that much smaller than the other focals? I particularly like audeze full-size I am wearing these right now and love the feel, but would love the Bluetooth of the bathes if they were comfortable

[@phhiemstra]

I worry how long the battery lasts over the years. At this price and quality I want to use it for years and years, but it feels the battery will die in a year or 5 to 10. Do you have any thoughts on this?

[@clavace5036]

I also had that worry about battery life and I do not believe it would last 5 to 10 years. Typically batteries deteriorate in about 4 years which will affect both play time and sound quality. I called Focal USA and asked about battery replacement and was told by customer service it is replaceable but would need to be sent into Focal USA (not user replaceable) which would cost about $200.

[@johnepic2422]

Paul, they have a standard battery availlable for purchase everywhere. Obviously I'd rather buy it with Focal, but I'm sure they will last few years the on the first one. Easy swap.

[@alancherkasov4001]

So, I think about changing to Bathys. Thank you, Chris

[@jomoanderson5596]

So, owning a pair of AirPod Max’s already, I’d eliminate the Bathys. Do you have a video comparative of the Celeste vs. say the Clear OG or MG? Are the Celestee the best Focal in that price point?

[@falcodarkzz]

Clear destroy celestee in every way. I had both at the same time

[@pdiddly5609]

good review, celestee's are personally the best headphones i've tried so it was interesting to see the comparison

[@MajorHiFi]

Great profile pic btw

[@tomvandermaesen3806]

your mic really pops too heavily on my px7. you need a pop filter I believe :)

[@thisjustanother]

theres an error in your desription section, your link of celestee goes to the bathys.

[@MajorHiFi]

Thanks I fixed it.

[@kevin-zd4po]

What’s better. The levinson or the focal?

[@kjellhedberg1199]

The Focal; test them both....

[@NiSHAN256]

How is the noise floor with those?

[@allansh828]

lower than airpods pro amd sony WH-1000XM5 in soft mode. Barely audible in silent mode.

[@x-techgaming]

Wide, but not deep. "A natural sound for wireless headphones"

[@jomoanderson5596]

Thanks.👌🏾

[@Bootrosgali]

Elegia + Dekoni Sheepskin Pads + EQ Tweak Bass = Sounstage, Clarity Win (and just add in bass as said)

[@kevin-zd4po]

Does these focal use real beryllium?

[@aceofspades6667]

No magnesium

[@clavace5036]

To get beryllium in a closed back you need to step up to the Stellia.

[@allansh828]

I strongly disagree with this review. In quiet environment, Bathys sound almost identical to Celestee on Naim Uniti Atom HE. I think Focal and Naim intended to make the desktop setup portable. The difference is the desktop setup sound bigger and wetter. Maybe Bathys’ ANC contribute a little to the recessed highs in noisy environment. In terms of resolution, tonality and timbre, Bathys is identical to Celestee. If you find Celestee being a treble head, it’s likely due to your amp pairing,

[@Pete.across.the.street]

That room echos

[@econautx]

Well, look at the room

[@gcb2101]

Celes-teeeeee and Bah-tees. Otherwise great review, thanks.

[@Vugar.Ahmadov]

Get B&W PX S2 for ~400 usd and very satisfied. 800 is too much for BT HPs

[@MrBravo143]

B&W PX8 is the real competition for Focal Bathys, Not PX7 S2

[@jonasgmunder7214]

i also have the px s2 and these are really good sounding headphones...double the price is for me not justified for a bluetooth headphone...ps i own celestee and clear mg...

[@kjellhedberg1199]

@@MrBravo143 The PX8 are not even close to the Bathys.

[@MrBravo143]

@@kjellhedberg1199 have you heard both?

[@kjellhedberg1199]

@@MrBravo143 Yes, have the PX7 S2 and I can get a good deal on PX8. But Focal come my way so its was easy choice.But they need to burn in at least 100-200h to sound great.

[@Audios81]

It's "ba-tees" just in case you want to pronounce it correctly. Great review otherwise.

[@Vugar.Ahmadov]

Looks nice, but its model name which has "Bath" word makes it hard to me to love them and even hard to pronounce... Have you felt lack in creativity, Focal??? Shame...

[@JeanMauriceB1C4RD]

BathEss the E english pronounced like an i or sometimes a y in french. So you pronounce it Bath-Ess

[@econautx]

For Americans it's pronounced "Bat-teese", there's no "th" spoken!

[@Minhchupchoet]

the review should be quite good, however I struggled to watch it through because of the 720p video quality.🥲