Great ear-buds?

Please don't call them earpods. Apple marketing hurts my soul. As for a recommendation, do you prefer earbuds or iems. Shallow or deep insertion? And do you want a more balanced sound or more bass/treble/etc?

iPod 5th Gen + EarPods

last time I was looking (never did shell out), I'd settled on Etymotic ER-4P

I'm very picky when it comes to ear-buds. I play drums often for live venues and I work a lot in studios and I've been using a variety of ear-buds for the past 9 years for my in-ear monitors. My first and probably my favorite ear-buds were the JVC HA-FX33, which were then changed to the JVC HA-FX35's which I loved even more. I absolutely loved the sound that came from them, very well rounded and the special marshmallow tips helped increase the bass punch along with blocking out most sound, even my own drums. They were great for iPod and computer as well with amazing sound quality for only $20! But because of all of the wear and tear of carrying around ear-buds from venue to venue AND using them for my iPod and computer use, I would usually go through a new pair at least every year, but for $20 I thought it was worth it. I used these for my in-ear monitors for drumming until I thought I would just go for it and buy a high-end pair just for drumming that would hopefully last a while and I went with the Shure SE215's. They did a great job at blocking outside noise, but the sound quality was very different from what I was use to. If anything it was all around flat, which is what you might want for doing sound because you can just EQ it to your taste, but I didn't like using them for my iPod or computer because I liked the sound quality of my JVC HA-FX35's better. So I kept the Shure's for drumming and used the JVC's for iPod and computer until they broke again this year, and when I went to buy another pair I discovered JVC had yet again changed them to a different model, the JVC HAFX30. I popped them into my iPod and was horrified by the terrible muddy sound that came out of my ear-buds. I quickly exchanged them hoping it was just a flaw but was extremely disappointed to find out that JVC just dropped the ball on the sound quality for their newest ear-buds. So I took to amazon to find my new favorite pair and came up with 2: the MEElectronics M9's, and Monoprice 109927's. I gotta say, I've enjoyed the M9's a little bit more than the 109927's. The M9's just had a sound quality closest to my old JVC's that I used to love, and the 109927's just seemed a little too flat even after adjusting EQ levels on my computer and they were a little uncomfortable.

tl;dr
You don't need to spend that much for great sound, there are budget ear-buds that do just fine as far as sound quality. I highly recommend possibly getting aftermarket ear-bud tips if you don't like the stock ones you get, in my experience better ear-bud tips not only help make the ear-buds more comfortable but also help with sound isolation and enhancing what's already there. Remember, sound is subjective, this is all coming from my experience and my opinions :)

Links to products I mentioned (assuming I can link them correctly):

JVC HA-FX33
JVC HA-FX35
Shure SE215
MEElectronics M9
Monoprice 109927
Comply T-400 Isolation Earphone Tips

These ones are ~$30 bucks and last forever.

http://www.steamgifts.com/forum/85prn/headphones-and-earbuds-that-last
http://www.steamgifts.com/forum/AeqNo/recommend-me-some-good-earbuds

http://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-B2-Noise-Isolating-Earphones/dp/B00573S3RC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_cps_1

Don't think the cable is replaceable, but that's common for IEMs in the $100ish range. Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10's go on sale for $100 once or twice a year. Replaceable cable, OK sound.

These. Now you probably think they are way to cheap, but I have these for a long time and they are excellent!

Apple's EarPods. Only $30 and has great sound quality.