Bought a pair of $6 IEMs. Saw some reviews. Immediately got buyer's remorse. Cancelled my order. Ordered $15 ones with good review. Next day, something arrived. Opened it without thinking. It was the cheap pair. "Whatever, before I return it, might as well". Listened to music. The $6 pair was actually good. Wtf. Immediately got buyer's remorse for the $15 IEMs. Checked tracking. Already on its way, can't cancel it no more.

Moral of the story, don't rely on audiophile reviews when I'm just a lowly pleb who thinks "hehe wavy air good". But I swear to god if the more expensive one turned out to be worse...

^{Yes, I do realize after the fact that this reads like a greentext. No, I'm not making it a proper greentext because tall blip ugly.}

So the $15 IEMs have arrived and... oh no... I can't hear much difference. The only things my layman ears can discern is that the $6 pair has got an extra bass, and that it potentially feels kinda fatiguing especially if I'm just listening to a podcast and not music.

Tbh, I guess I could live without either. I think I'm just gonna use the extra bass pair when going out while keeping the more balanced one for listening at home.