I'm shopping for IEMs for my Cowon iAudio7 and my price point is $150-$200. Of course, I wish for them to compliment the sound signature of my iAudio 7.

Although my recordings are FLAC ripped from CD, some of my source recordings are fifty years old. Some are recently remastered, many are not. I listen to a lot of bebop jazz - Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Monk, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, et al. Many of the recordings place one instrument in your left ear ant another in your right. With the prevalence of horns and lack of mastering, it can be very fatiguing on the wrong IEMs or headphones.

I also listen to a fair measure of minimalistic progressive alternative, e.g. Mazzy Star, Elliot Smith, Portishead, Wilco, Mice Parade, Cat Power.

I tend not to enjoy psychoacoustics all that much and EQ stuff to a bare minimum only if needed. Also, re IEMs, I hate the feeling of having a sub-woofer shoved up my spinal column.

Given the above, do you have any recommendations? I've been considering:
1) q-JAYS
2) ER-4P
3) Westone UM2 (I know, outside my price range)
4) Atrios

Take care.

I have never understood what people have against EQ. A good set of IEMs, some EQ and a little bit of crossfeed would solve your problem - that way you can tweak the sound to the way *you* like it - and not be stuck with the sound of a single set of phones. I listen to a lot of the same Jazz as you, and find that some crossfeed is all I need to get a very pleasurable listening experience on headphones. My phones are a little midbass heavy, so I turn down the EQ in the band around 200Hz to get a more neutral sound.

Crossfeed. Good point. I don't hate EQ, I just don't like to use it excessively, to the point that I'm listening to something other than what was layed down. Believe me, I do use it.

Back to crossfeed. There used to be a guy who whent by Xin who made an ampless crossfeed called the XinFeed, but I cannot find it any longer. Do you know of anyone else who makes a solid state ampless crosssfeed filter?

What would be your IEM recommendation?

I would recommend the Atrios.
Their warmth should go well with the iAudio's accuracy.