The Focal Bathys are the world's best-sounding wireless headphones. They're also among the most expensive and luxurious. But I can't say they're the best noise-cancelling headphones. And having said all that, I'm sure some audio purists will greet Focal's digital accomplishment with all the enthusiasm folk purists displayed the day Bob Dylan ‘went electric’ at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965.
But before we get too deep into this evaluation, let me answer the two questions I'm sure are at the front of your mind: First, how the heck did Focal come up with ‘Bathys’ as a name for a high-performance headphone? The company says the name is based on ‘bathyscaphe’, the first self-propelled, deep-diving submarine. It's an ironic choice, given that I never experienced that ‘underwater’ feeling that some listeners say noise-cancelling headphones inflict on them.
Second, is the Bathys £699 price tag justified? Yes, absolutely. Do they deliver twice the value as, say, Sony's excellent WH-1000XM5 (£349 from ), which don't measure up sonically, but do deliver better noise cancellation? Probably not. But I did enjoy listening to) – and the Bathys were more comfortable to wear to boot.
