The Soundcore Sleep A30 aren’t as successful at delivering superb audio quality for music. When playing The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the Sleep A30 buds effectively serve up the bass triplets and sub-bass quarter notes, but the upper register sounds thin. Occasionally, the synth melody has a little bite, but the cymbals and upper vocal harmony sit low down in the mix. There’s a plain lack of brilliance. The focus on the bass and weakened high-end make some sense given what the buds aim to accomplish. A warmer tone should be more comfortable for relaxing and sleeping than risking harshness, with too much high-end.
This low-end emphasis carried over into Kendrick Lamar’s “Loyalty,” where the vocals sound a little mellow and the Bruno Mars sample is somewhat muted, but the sub-bass line introduced at the 35-second mark in the track almost dominates the tune when it comes in. It sounds so overdone that it almost seems like it should be coming from somewhere outside the earbuds.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover” fares a little better. The upper-end of the bass register isn’t quite so overemphasized. Since the track opens with a constant patter of a kick drum, too much bass can make this section a true racket. But the Sleep A30 holds it at a fair level, even if it is still a little much. Callahan’s baritone vocals have a nice depth, but they miss out on some of that live feeling a bit more high-end presence would have lent it. The fiddle and guitars also aren’t as crisp as they ought to be.
The lack of high-end hurts orchestral performances like John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary. The strings, brass, and choir are subdued. What should have been chaotic strings and biting horns turns into a mellow smattering of notes. They’re buried further by the bass tones, which themselves have a muddier sound in the recording.
Ultimately, the Sleep A30 aren’t very good for listening to music if you care much about how it sounds. They don’t sound bad, but they’re no better than OK.
Anker specifies that the Sleep A30 have a single mic for making calls, but it would not activate for me on Windows or Android to make a test recording. Instead, I made a call to myself from a second phone number, and it was no surprise that the audio quality was just so-so.
