The Soundcore P41i buds offer robust sound, leaning a little on the low-end more than the upper registers. In a track like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the bass triples and sub-bass quarter notes have plenty of thump, giving the track a thick feel. The lower vocal harmony also comes through well. But a little of the edge that comes from the high-end is lacking. The synth melody should reach some pretty high energy levels over the course of the song, but it never quite gets red hot. The upper vocal harmony is also a bit mellowed and harder to pick out. The brilliance from the claps and cymbals is also a bit subdued. It’s possible to put some of this energy back in with various EQ tweaks, but the sound signature keeps the high-end just a little mellowed.
(Credit: Mark Knapp)
The low-end grunt works well in a track like Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty,” where the P41i buds go to work on the deep sub-bass line’s introduction about 35 seconds into the song. The kick drum hits hard during the intro, but when that sub-bass line comes in, it fills out the tune. The volume drops a bit on some of the lowest notes in that sub-bass line, though, making the higher notes in the line stand out as especially loud. It’ll please the bass lovers, though it’s a touch overdone and starts to drown out some of the higher frequencies in the Bruno Mars sample. Kendrick and Rihanna’s vocals are still clear.
The emphasis on bass is a poor match for Bill Callahan’s “Drover.” Callahan’s vocals are loud and clear, but the song contains a near-constant patter of kick drum eighth notes for multiple long stretches, and they’re basically an assault on your eardrums with their elevated levels. As the outro of the song builds to a crescendo, the drums are simply thunderous and overpowering. Meanwhile, the fiddle and guitars lack brilliance and presence, sounding a bit too much like a so-so recording and less like a live performance. The heavy bass also detracts from some of the song’s nuance, like the faint background hiss and the sound of the snare wire being set up in the recording.
The heavy bass and lack of high-end also make the P41i a poor match for orchestral content, like John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary. Although they can hit the low notes in the song, they end up sounding a bit muddy. And with the many upper-register instruments lacking their full character, the whole performance just feels bottom-heavy.
The Soundcore P41i microphones sound acceptable. My voice is clear enough, though not loud or pronounced as you might get from a higher-quality mic. They successfully reduce some droning background noise, like fans. But in a busier cafe environment, they can struggle to distinguish between my voice and my surroundings, making it much harder to hear my voice clearly.
