[Just_Me_D]

To those of you who have multiple earphones from cheap to expensive, do you have a cheap pair that can rival your most expensive pair in terms of “sound quality”? Comfort and build quality is unimportant. I’m only interested in the sound quality.

Below are my currently owned headphones/earphones from most expensive to cheapest.

Bose QC-35
Sennheiser Momentum 2 AEBT
Bose Soundsport
OneOdio Pro 30
Easy KZ ZST Monitoring earbuds
Apple EarPods

I gave away the following:
Apple AirPods
Jabra Elite 65t
Audio-Technica ATH M40x

In terms of being able to hear almost all of the various instruments and voices, both the Easy KZ ZST and the OneOdio Pro 30 provides better clarity than both my Bose and Sennheiser.

[Wotchered]

I wish I could help properly, but am far too mean to spend much on earphones but for what it’s worth my favourites are:
Zero Audio Carbo Basso
Zero Audio Carbo Tenore
That old set of Bose ones with the insulation falling off.
2 unused sets of Apple earphones
Various unidentifiable sets with only one side working.
I really like the Carbo Basso

[Lee_Bo]

The only other set I have, besides my AirPods Pro, is an LG HBS-900. I think it’s close, but the AirPods win when it comes to deep bass, like in jazz music.

[metllicamilitia]

Let's see what do I have....

Over-Ear Headphones:
Audio-Technica ATH-M30X

On-Ear Headphones:
Koss Porta-Pro

Earbud:
AirPods
EarPods

In-Ear:
Shure SE-315
Jays A-Jays
Jabra Elite 75t
BeatsX
Apple In-Ear
Jaybird Freedom?
Wraps
Sony XBA-H1
Another set of Sony I don't remember the model for

The different categories are important as the soundstage is different for each category. Between AirPods and EarPods....save your money, use EarPods. The Audio-Technica's are the only over-ear's I've ever had. Other than the Koss I did have some Grado SR80 and those were better. For the in-ears, none of them really touch the Shure's, next closest would be the Jabra's, Jaybird's, Jay's, and BeatsX. If you want Apple's magic pairing, BeatsX over AirPods every day.

All based on sound quality of course.

EDIT: To answer the question, no, none of the cheap beat the more expensive ones. The drivers aren't good enough.