Really enjoyed this, thank you.

Great review! Glad to see an honest opinion on here.

Nice.

While I don't agree with the assessment for the most part, the review is well done.

I think you nailed it.

Got mine recently used from Amazon so the price was nice. My initial impressions are somewhat consistent with your V-impressions; mid-range presence slightly "recessed" with treble that's a little hard to pin down (not in a bad way necessarily).
 
But I haven't given it enough time and while it's not Grado (my main reference point), the X2's character is enjoyable so far. It certainly provides more bass than Grados. I use my X2 with the new Vali 2 and Modi 2U--again, an overall pleasing combo. Thanks for your thoughts. I will try to hear the HE-400S sometime as that was my other choice.

Thanks for reading!
 
@feelingears there's a big dip from 6-8k in the treble. Maybe that's it? It sounds hollow. I can't believe I didn't put that in my review; it was the first thing I noticed.

Although we definately here some of these headphones very differently I still enjoyed reading the review. Actually quite funny than people can have so totally different impressions from the same headphones (and also a big part of the charm of this hobby imo). 
 
Just out of curiosuty: what amplifiers did you try the X2's with?

@peter123 I used it with an Audio-GD SA-31 and a Beta22.

Interesting to see how people can have very different impressions. In fact I have/had the HD650 and AKG7xx and always preferred listening to the X2. Although the HD650 really opened up when I moved on to the Valhalla 2, then it became a toss up between the two. In fact I found the AKG to have more bass than the X2 and have a hollow sounding mid that annoyed me when listening to vocals. Perhaps what the headphones are paired really changes ones impressions of a can.

this is terrible review. None of his Cons are correct rofl. There is small bump on mid bass, and very high treble but there is no ******* way bass is muddy or treble is harsh. It's called EQ kid.

"Easy to drive, but doesn't measure up to others in its price range... ...At around $200, I can’t really think of another headphone that outright beats it." This review is just confusion and contridicting itself. 

That was probably the most helpful review I've ever read on Head-Fi. I especially appreciate you explaining that you prefer "an n-shaped sound, which emphasizes midrange". It helps put everything in context. 
I do like my HD600, but I wouldn't mind a touch more low bass, so I'm intrigued by the X2.