Do all earphones work on iPod Touch 5???

I bought an iPod Touch 5 few days ago. I tried to swapped the earbud headphone on my Sony Walkman NWZ-X1051 with the iPod's (that earphone came with the walkman but it was a good o!), but I could only hear the background music but not the vocal. The earphone is definitely working, it works with my iPhone 4, so I don't know what the issue is. I made sure I plugged it in right and it's completely plugged in and I also tried many times, but same result.

At first I could not wait to use the iPod Touch, I took it to work the first day and then went back using my Sony Walkman the next day, I am not used to the sound quality of the iPod, the bass is so weak to none (even with the bass boost setting) as compared to the walkman, and I could not hear anything (with the same low volume that I usually have) at the train station with the iPod, but my walkman has noise cancelling and works well at the station even with low volume. This is why I tried to change the earphone to see if that helps. I ordered a cheap pair of panasonic earbud from Amazon awhile ago and haven't received, now I wonder if it will work on the iPod. I also do not like the earbuds that come with the iPod, so I definitely want to change the earphone. Now I am seriously considering returing the product if the earphone issue does not work out since I use it mainly for music.

Hopefully someone can help me out here, so I don't need to return it.

Thanks so much for all your help in advance! Any help is very much appreciated!