[Stryking]

Hi there! I'm currently quite strapped for cash and am looking for a dirt-cheap pair of earbuds. I have a few conflicting interests but hey I hope you guys can help
 
- These need to be under $20. The lower the better since I'll have to pay shipping.
- Durability > Sound Quality: As long as these things don't sound like absolute trash I'm looking for them to last me as long as possible.
 
 
In the past my low-end earbuds of choice have been Sony MDREX10LP's but I have a feeling that you guys can point me to a better set.
 
Thanks for reading!
 
EDIT: I will be using these to listen to Rock and Metal. Some example bands: Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, Mastodon, Megadeth, Metallica, The Replacements.

 

[Stryking]

Anyone?

 

[elvergun]

I don't know of anything good for under $20.   Save $10 more (look for loose change in your friend's cars) and buy a Vsonic GR02 from ebay for $30.

 

[halfinfinity]

JVC HAFX1X is the best I've tried in that price range. May be a bit bassy though.

 

[tquickbrownfox]

eh, increase your budget. Skip a pizza or something.
Get the soundmagic e10 (nice airy soundstage, great for pink floyd, maybe a little sibilant for the cymbal crashes in other heavier bands). Its got a coiled cable, so its more on the durable side. 
Or you could get the vsd1s (i prefer the e10's soundstage and airiness and imaging, but the vsd1s is better in every other aspect).
 
For the stuff below that, I doubt it'll make much of a difference. Most of sub 20$ iems are rebranded chinese low end products.
 
 
Lemme give you some advice that I hate myself for giving - 
If you really don't care about great sound quality and just want something thats worth your money, theres this thing thesource does (im in Canada too). They sell a generic 20$ sony iem. You can add 5$ to that and get a care plan. Basically, they literally give you a replacement earphone for free, no questions asked. None of the "ooh, water isn't covered in your plan". 
They themselves realize how low quality iems work and how they break down. Plus I don't imagine this being a huge loss. 
 
SO there you go. If you aren't interested in exploring the world of sound and just want to have functional iems at all times, go for the thing at thesource.
 
But, the audio gear world is one worth diving into. So I advice you go save up a bit and get some better iem.
 
Nothing less than 80$ does pink floyd justice.
Nothing less than 30$ does dream theater justice.
 
 
Some commonly recommended cheap wonderful iem's include the Philips SHE380/390 and the cheapo monoprice. I've got no experience with either.

 

[Stryking]

When I mentioned my current set of IEM's they were the exact same ones on the same warranty that you mentioned. Strange.

As for not being able to do them justice, I got a pair of ATH-M50's a while back ($120) so I just need something to throwaway.

I'll do a bit more research and report back, thanks!