"sounds inadequate" is correct and can be used in written English.
It is typically used when talking about a situation or idea where something is lacking or insufficient. For example, "With its outdated technology, the factory's production system sounds inadequate for the company's needs."
Somehow, the description "neo-white soul singer" sounds inadequate to evoke the steam she elicited last Monday from songs associated with Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Prince and others at 54 Below.
While this system sounds inadequate, it doesn't seem deliberately so.
That these old markers surpass the value of new ones and that some of the old techniques employed for marker determination may be more reliable than new ones sounds inadequate, but nevertheless it is satisfying that such usefulness and validity does exist for at least few molecules.
Greg Dyke's earlier response to changes to editorial procedures sounded inadequate, defensive and bureaucratic.
In the company of those brutes, the GL350's mere 240 horsepower might sound inadequate, but the Mercedes diesel punches above its weight.
The sentiments surely sounded inadequate as they were spoken, if only because they would have to stand in for a lifetime of words that could no longer be said.
At the very least, that sounds like inadequate supervision.
I just cannot recommend a speaker that costs so much and sounds so inadequate.
Since the apps are designed to improve the sound of inadequate headphones (I'm looking at you, Apple earbuds) it is also what they work well with.
The common complaints are poor sound quality, inadequate coverage, dropped calls and confusing billing practices -- not to mention the growing tendency of customer service representatives to give callers the address of the company's Web site rather than an answer.
And it turns out, there's actual science connected with why these just-add-water apologies sound so inadequate.
