I find sound quality is mostly subjective and entirely based on your sound preference. I have found earphones for $25 that sound amazing but lack isolation/ and or noise cancellation.
What exactly are you needing from your earbuds?
I roll with the Etymotic ER2XR as they have the largest bass shelf of the Etymotic lineup while still providing over 40dbs of sound isolation. I prefer sound isolation over noise cancellation. The ER2ER's are amazing at isolating the music/audiobook or phone call when operating heavy machinery and/or heavily dampening the engines of an airplane whether on the ground next to the aircraft or in the air traveling. They also pick up damn near every detail a record or CD quality lossless file can provide, and you will never have to raise the volume above 40% unless by choice. They also produce a sound that to my ears sounds very natural.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NSL5XS5?ps ... ct_detailsFor home use I go with either my mini cans/headphone (Audeze LCD-i3 |
https://www.audeze.com/products/lcd-i3),
or the Sony IER-Z1R's,
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-IER-Z1R-Sig ... 355&sr=1-2The mini cans/headphones do indeed provide full size headphone sound, and the Sony's do an incredibility job keeping up but at a significant price. I have tried many different earphones, too many, as I prefer them over headphones when I'm out working.
A good graphing tool for finding your preferred sound signature is in this link,
https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/grapht ... e=Timeless