Hi
I can see when mixing that flat response speakers do that job. In my little home studio I have a old pair of Tapco S5 monitors and they do sound a little better than my Tyros 5 keyboards Ts05 speakers.
My pain is that the Tapco speakers being flat response sound very flat to me and boxy.
Is there a set of decent monitors that can give a flat response for mixing and maybe a switch to get back sound like a quality hi -fi.
Does anyone know what I mean??
I would like some help as to me flat sounds,sound very flat and when playing for pleasure flat does not sound great to me.
Just a little question.
 
All the Best
john

The tapco's are live speakers, I believe, which explains some if not most of your sound problems.
 
Re:  in audio speak, "flat" means flat on a graphed chart, no large deviation from 0 in reproduction from the original signal.  But we know what you mean when you say "flat" tho, as in no depth or perception of depth (air) in and around a sound.  Tho that is not "boxy," which means congestion around a recorded sound, as if you recorded it inside a deadening box.
 
Others may know some other, decent, low-cost monitors, but the best one's at cost I know of are the Yamaha Msp speakers.  I've used pro studios that have the 5s as near fields, and they work.  The HS series is more popular, and I doubt if there is a great deal of end user difference between the series, but the HS is more listenable, like a home speaker.  The MSP doesn't try to "improve" the sound, just the facts.  For under a $1000 a pair, the MSP 7 are the speakers I'd buy to replace my mains, and they are $600 or so.

in addition to the speakers, the room plays a huge role in what you hear. so when you look at a graph of the speaker response, the test is usually conducted with an infinite baffle or in an anechoic chamber. so between  flat response speaker and your room (modes, reflections etc) you have something you find uncomfortable - and perhaps this can be a good thing when doing some final checks but not for mixing. altering your room response, speaker and seating position etc can all help to make these speakers work better for you but if you cannot find any music material that sounds right (meaning you know the mix etc is all good on a commercial recording) then you should consider some other monitors. that said, "nice sounding" or "hifi" speakers are also a problem as they can enhance things during your mix so your translation of the mix fails on other systems... 

I find my Yamaha NS 10's which are now sold as powered as mentioned above, sound fair enough for just listening to pre recorded music. But as said in the second post, it is because that's in my studio chair where I'm used to listening. The room is important. 
I put then in my front room once as a Hi Fi  set and they were all midrange and no warmth like my Missions or Paradigm's are. And then if I try the Missions or Paradigm's in the studio they are way too much bass and very inaccurate. So, my studio monitors suck as Hi Fi speakers in the front room, but sound fine in the studio, And my Hi Fi Speakers sound great in the front room but suck in the studio. 
 
In my studio I also have my Alto TS 112's PA set up for proofing my backing tracks with the system I use live. The Alto's for the money are a super nice sounding speaker, very full and I'd say accurate too. So if what your looking for is powered speakers , cheap, and are a lot of fun, check out the Alto's if what you want is to blast your songs at higher SPL. Your Tapco's should be just fine as near fields, I do believe Mackie and Tapco are connected somehow. 

Hi
 
Thanks to everyone who has explained the situation for me as I am still learning about the mixing side and at the moment I do my mix  things with my AKG earphones and my Old tapco S5  Monitors which I do not rate at all.
After I generally try out on my Marantz hi-fi to hear if the songs are any good.
I see what AT is saying ,mean't for live rather than studio work,but I thought when starting to mix that these were studio monitors for the bedroom musician.
I will go out to the music shops and have a listen to the speakers that you are talking about.
Anyway ,here is what I get up to with my lowly tapco's
A special thanks to Mr Cactus for he has helped me on a number of occassions--- john
https://soundcloud.com/silver-machine
 
 
All the best
John

Re-read Glenn's post above. That's the critical piece of information you need for your quest.
 
Spending a lot of money on speakers is a complete waste, unless you measure and treat your room. In an untreated bedroom/basement/garage studio you are literally better off mixing with some decent headphones than with even high-end speakers.
 

The 2004 Sound on Sound review of the Tapco S5 nearfields is pretty complimentary.
http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/tapco-s5

If you're determined to adjust their sound for listening to music rather than mixing I think the easiest answer is to use the eq built into Windows Media Player or iTunes.

Another way of looking at things is that if you are very familiar with how good commercially released recordings sound through your nearfields it's helpful when mixing your own stuff.

And the thing about monitors is that they're not meant to sound nice, warm and laid back.

Firstly I would listen to really well mixed and mastered music on your speakers in your room.  If that sounds great then you have both a good set of speakers and an adequate room acoustic that will let you hear them. That should be got out of the way first. (Sting - 'Brand New Day' or Steely Dan 'Everything Must Go' or 'Two Against Nature') 
 
(If that does not sound great then you maybe in need of both a better set of monitors and the room treatments mentioned here)
 
If that test is good then it is you who is not producing a satisfying mix. You are thinking about your tools instead of looking closer at what you may be doing. 
 
The Tapco speakers you mentioned are not live speakers either.  Not sure where that came from.  According to the SOS article they are ideal for a project studio. 
 
But then again maybe you could spend a little more on a better pair of speakers such as Yamaha HS7's for example. They have got a nice balance of low end to the mids and highs.  Although an 8" driver is going to get you into some lower frequencies a little better. 
 
A mix can sound however you want it to.  It can be nice, warm and laid back.  If your monitors are not meant to sound nice then what are they meant to sound like? It is the engineer that can make monitors sound nice.  I witnessed a situation in a studio where a pair of Yamaha NS10's were setup and a quick listening test revealed they sounded horrible.  (as they do!!) But then the engineer mixed this lovely track on them and all that horribleness just drifted away and the sound turned into gold.  In fact they sounded nice, warm and laid back!  In this case the engineer just overpowered the sound of the speakers and took control creating a beautiful rich balanced sound. 
 
 
 
 

 I witnessed a situation in a studio where a pair of Yamaha NS10's were setup and a quick listening test revealed they sounded horrible.  (as they do!!) But then the engineer mixed this lovely track on them and all that horribleness just drifted away and the sound turned into gold.  In fact they sounded nice, warm and laid back!  In this case the engineer just overpowered the sound of the speakers and took control creating a beautiful rich balanced sound. 
 
And this is possibly why the wisdom is- " if you can make your mix sound good on the NS10's then your mix will sound amazing no matter what you play it on" 
 
I think there is a danger in mixing on speakers that sound great no matter what is put up on them. 
Another popular "boring" speaker is the little Auratone's. 
 
 
 

Hi To Everyone
Sorry for late reply
 
I have fiddled with the Tapcos and I am getting a far greater sound out of them than before.
I will of course try the Yamaha Hs 7/8 out when Yamaha bring out the Genos or Tyros 6
I have for ages been using the Tyros 5 sounds and now starting to get Into the VST side.Also want to combine the two.
 
 
Thanks for all of your help and especially to Johnny who has helped me In the past.
 
All the Best
John