[thedocdetroit]

I'm new to audiophile quality. I was expecting to be blown away for a cost of $99 as opposed to apple earpods, but I can't really hear much of a difference. The bass actually seems the same. I pinched the foams that came with it, set them in my ears, and it was lackluster. I don't get it.

 

[plyr]

Blown away is more like $300+ phones...
 
Never heard the apple phones, but I had the Zune Premium V2, and the first thing I noticed about the SE215 was the better clarity, less muddy sound. 
 
One thing that can get in the way is the isolation, try to get a good isolation with the Silicon sleeves that came with, try the large and the medium.

 

[tinyman392]

  I'm new to audiophile quality. I was expecting to be blown away for a cost of $99 as opposed to apple earpods, but I can't really hear much of a difference. The bass actually seems the same. I pinched the foams that came with it, set them in my ears, and it was lackluster. I don't get it.

 
They have a similar sound signature, but the improvement probably won't be in the bass, rather all the 19750 Hz after the 250 Hz mark.  In other words, listen to the mids and highs.  

 

[ubs28]

  I'm new to audiophile quality. I was expecting to be blown away for a cost of $99 as opposed to apple earpods, but I can't really hear much of a difference. The bass actually seems the same. I pinched the foams that came with it, set them in my ears, and it was lackluster. I don't get it.

 
Do you use the apple EarPods from the iPhone 5S? I haven't A/B them against my Shure SE215 ( I never use them anymore since I got the Shure SE535 now), but I got the impression that they sound really good for a bunch of free EarPods. Huge improvements over the crappy Apple EarPods I got with my iPod Touch. So I'm not suprised that you are not blown away. 
 
However they are nowhere near as good as the Shure SE215 due to the horrible comfort and horrible isolation. The Apple EarPods only sound good in quiet rooms, outside and I have to turn up the volume a lot to get some descent sound and the bass is gone.  Atleast the old apple EarPods were comfortable that I received with my iPod Touch.
 
You might not be blown away in sound quality ( the Shure SE215 is better but considering that the Apple EarPods are free, it might be underwhelming) , but the comfort and isolation should blow you away
 
edit: My Shure SE535 spanks those Apple EarPods though on my DAC + amp. But that's a $400 IEM against a free IEM.

 

[SyCo87]

IM50, $55+ for a crisp and mid-forward IEM. The clarity is way above budget sets.

 

[Darkseth]

Listen to the se 215 for about a week. Then switch back
You should notice a much bigger difference that way. Let your Brain get used to the shure se 215