New $100 IEMs sound very muffled

[jacobkuca]

Background- So a while ago I bought some Symphonized NRG earbuds. They sounded absolutely amazing, but they broke right away. I ordered a new pair and they were also broken within a month, so I decided to go in another direction. I bought some Brainwavz Delta's for around the same price, and I didn't like them quite as much but they were still phenominal for the price and I've enjoyed them very much. So about a month ago, I went onto http://massdrop.com and saw MSRP $120 headphones for $40, and you couldn't get them for less than $60 on eBay or Amazon at the time, so I decided to check them out, which leads me to the problem..
 
The issue- As soon as I put them in, they were sort of hard to get to stay into my ear, but by using the old Brainwavz rubber ear piece (which I actually took off of the Symphonized headphones, btw) I was able to make a nice seal. I played some music, and almost gasped at the horror. The sound quality was absolutely atrocious! It was *honestly* what I would expect from apple earbuds, it sounded just like them. I've been using them for a few hours and they started sounding a bit better to me, but then I tried on my Delta's again and they just sounded *so* much better than the newer, more expensive earbuds. Like it wasn't even remotely close...
 
Did I buy bad headphones, or is something else at play here..? I tried both my iPhone and Laptop with different types of songs. Both wielded the same results, the new headphones were just trash. Very muffled highs & vocals and almost no bass. 
 
I know I've heard something about "breaking them in", but I used them for at least 4 hours today and not much has changed, I just got used to the ****ty sound.
 
The new earbuds I bought were Beyerdynamic DTX 102 IE earbuds.

 

[jacobkuca]

People pleaseeee I need help

 

[Raketen]

How did they sound with the original tips? Tips can make a pretty big difference (though maybe not as big as you are describing) might also be worth trying other tips if you have them on hand.
 
You could also try a different fit if your ears will allow it- like with a smaller or larger size tip to adjust the insertion depth. Have you tried wearing them over-ear (cable wrapped behind the ear so they hang down into your ear), sometimes that can change how you hear something.
 
"Breaking them in" probably means "burn-in", which means one of two different things

1. A- the practice of playing music or noise through headphones before using them, at certain volumes for an uncertain number of hours with the theory being that it sometimes takes the mechanical elements (driver diaphragm) some time to settle in to how it's supposed to operate. Some manufacturers even explicitly recommend burn in. Some people dispute its merits. Either way there's tons of discussion about and guides for burning in if you search around.
2. B- "brain burn-in"  our brains are pretty adaptable, and if you've been using one headphone exclusively for an extended period of time, you will tend to percieve that as proper or normal sounding- sometimes it can take a while to get used to a new sound signature. You could try sticking with the bayers exclusively for a few days, a few weeks, see if you feel the same after extensive use.

 
You could try using EQ to make them more to your liking, here's a good guide: http://www.head-fi.org/t/615417/how-to-equalize-your-headphones-advanced-tutorial-in-progress
 
It is possible you got a bum pair, you could try asking massddrop about it.
 
The Deltas are very well liked and popular headphones, they could just be better or more suited to your preferences- price can be kind of arbitrary relative to sound quality and enjoyability, though Beyerdynamic have a very good reputation for a reason (maybe not so much with their in-ears), maybe read around/reviews about the 102s to see if your perception of them is a common experience or not.
 
Sorry if any of this is overly pedantic or obvious or you know it already, just trying to cover all the bases I can think of... hope you can find a solution