[coldmack]

If I am looking for a natural sounding IEM where the output is as close as what the musician intended to be which one of these listed should I be looking at? Which will also bring out the detail in the music? Cost is about the same as all can be had for about 100(either new or used) from amazon.com. 

 

[JxK]

Natural implies that the IEM has good timbre. So you can toss out the balanced armature IEMs. Of what's left, well, I don't think any of them currently represent the best value. Why not tell us what sort of sound signature you prefer - be more specific than natural - and we can be of more help. Personally, the most natural IEM I've used was the panasonic hje900. It has a realistic bass response (neutral bass around here tends to mean recessed). And the V shaped sound worked wonderfully at low to medium volumes to take advantage of a human ear's equal loudness contour.

 

[iLovPieNCake]

If you could only expand your budget, the Fischer Audio DBA-02s are gods at musical for their 160$ price range.
 
Look into the Head Direct RE0, they are regarded one of the best under 120$ for only 80$ on Head Direct. They also improve with quality amping, or in your case, plugging it into a nicer ipod, computer, music system, etc.
 
I own a pair of Super.Fi 3 Studios, I have burned them in(300+ Hours) and they sound really warm and natural but not crisp and their soundstage(Distinction between instruments when listening to an orchestra) is subpar. They do isolate really well, cable upgrades are a plus and they do improve a lot by amplifying.

 

[coldmack]

I don't want to go over $115 with tax and I just want to sound as close to what the artist wanted to sound like. So nothing that would be called color, nothing that is extra bass heavy and something that is wide enough if the singers pipes are out there is room to shout, emote, and belch out every single note without holding back or sounding muffled. Minimal fatigue would be a bonus. 
 
What about higher end models like the Custom 2(100 for open box), which are close to my budget, so it the super fi 5. 
 
btw what is the diff between the HF5 and the lower price MC5? 

 

[coldmack]

Okay so I see the turbines going for under 60 new. How about these for my needs? I have seen lot of good written about these. 

 

[iLovPieNCake]

Read some reviews for headphones a lot of people have reviews
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/478568/multi-iem-review-127-iems-compared-db-logic-ep-100-skullcandy-fmj-added-12-17
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/433318/shootout-61-portable-headphones-reviewed-meelec-ht-21-soundmagic-p20-added-12-15
 
I'm not 100% sure but both the Custom 2s and Turbines are highly respected but are not really crisp and clean sounding, more natural and I think the Turbines are a little bass heavy.
 

 

[coldmack]

What about the Custom 3 vs the Turbine vs HF5/4? Which would fit my needs the closest?