Well now that you put it like that I'll explain a bit more, even though this is an LC thread.
The Fostex TH-X00 was everything that's bad about the Audeze EL-8 in a closed back version: humongous mid-bass hump, severely rolled off on both ends, total void of impact and refinement, small stage. It was the worst sound I've heard in many months and would much rather take a Beats 'can, seriously. This was however a prototype, yet I'd doubt the final version is drastically different. Also without naming any names, I do believe there are powers that be here that say everything sounds wonderful for reasons other than hobby. And that is as much as I feel I can say without taking backlash. Please try it first.
Well, the first couple of sentences of this rather quick assessment seem calculated to say the most egregious things possible about these cans, and yet you also act as if you're trying to restrain yourself from saying even worse things, which provides an even more damning impression (imo)... lol.. Well you have already let the cat out of the bag, and even called out other reviews of the cans that have been authorized by the "powers that be. " I'd say that is already a pretty bold assessment that seeks to exercise a lot more influence than the usual "run of the mill" purely personal reactions or first impressions one often encounters here and elsewhere, those which the reviewers try to qualify with such caveats as "these are my own personal views under XXX conditions of auditioning," and YMMV etc. etc.
My point is that your opinion is going to affect other people and their choices, so if you want to be really fair in your assessment, "for the good of the hobby," as you say, then you need to be a little more forthcoming: for example, you need to state what rig you heard this "prototype" on, and under what conditions you did... Was it at a meet, and are you sure it was hooked up to other components with which it had an optimally synergistic match? How long did you listen to the unit, and with what genres of music, etc. etc. ? Not to cast any aspersions on your personal opinion or review (to which you are perfectly entitled), but if this was the result of a hasty listen under less than optimal conditions, then I think full disclosure would be in order, again, "for the good of the hobby," as you say.
For the moment, as things stand so far, and without having heard the cans myself, I have to say that I am more inclined to take those "powers that be" reviews I have seen on this site a lot more seriously than yours, since they at least seem a lot more carefully, and painstakingly done, with very detailed descriptions of the conditions under which the auditioning was performed, and the chains of components (amps/dacs/compared headphones et. etc) with which the assessment was done, not to mention lists of songs that were used to test the phones, among other things. Better still, the first few impressions of actual owners who now have the unit in hand seem to corroborate those initial "powers that be assessments" and that is why I tend to find those assessments more persuasive and reliable than yours at the moment.
Not to say you're not being "persuasive and reliable," I am just saying that you are giving your readers very little to go on in spite of making rather large claims that seem to be based on only one encounter with what you admittedly call a "prototype," under rather poorly specified circumstances. I hope you see where I am coming from.