Trouble distinguishing notes is usually moreso a factor of the headphone's instrument separation than its frequency graphI say-- unless the bass is bloated to the extent that it covers up a good chunk of the mids-- which for some reason you think is very easy to do. I personally have just an easy time distinguishing detail in a song coming out of a Denon vs a Beyer, but the difference is that the Beyer gives more crispness and separation-- either way they're both colored.
You gotta tell me a specific example in which a bass neutral headphone has problems revealing a note compared to something bass light (I already know your history with loving bass light headphones and have no problem displaying it :D)
This is all completely ignoring the point that having impact can be regarded as accuracy as well. I'd put some money into the thought that a lot of electronic mastering is intended with visceral bass in mind, as well as someone mastering for rock music wanting the kick drum to give visceral qualities to the song.
Right now I can't really give any other examples on a headphone with less bass quantity surpassing another headphone with more quantity in the impact department, because I don't own every can on the market. There is a correlation between the two, but it's definitely not a completely parallel relation.
... I'll happily give away some sense of realism for that. You might be right that it's also a matter of instrument separation (fast transients?), since Grado's for instance are in no way the worst in this area (distinguishing notes)
