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Crazy post but I have a beautiful 2001 Gibson Legrand and when I got it about a year ago it had a set of light flatwounds I believe Thomastiks. They felt very nice and actually sound fine acoustically in fact like the no noise and response with, and without the amp. So now I am deciding to give this guitar a set of round wounds .12-.52 I use to see how the response will change.
This begins my small rant. At present the guitar intonates perfectly with an ebony saddle and the strings are fine. Being frugal at many things I just hate the thought of taking these nice strings off to go to the round wounds. Pretty hard to take them off and put on another guitar but who knows I might try that these flatwounds are great. I am going to measure the gauges with my micrometer and if they turn out to be thomastiks ( not sue how to know exactly) then I going to start using thomastiks strings. I even going to take back all the rude things I said about them due to the high price. I do have no issues with the Daddario flatwounds but these feel much softer and nicer. I have a set on my Super 400ces and they sound great but whatever is on this Legrand now feel even better.
I do at times use flatwounds even on my acoustic archtops because I have floating pups and they have a nice electric sound. So now the question is what do some of you use on say an acoustic L5 or if someone has a Legrand. Also anyone way of knowing for sure if the strings are Thomastiks? Finally I must be over-thinking this but I just hate to waste these perfect strings that to me could very well go another year before they go bad?
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Deacon, I'm sure you know this but, The TI's have the beautiful Silk wrapping around the string post and Tailpiece end. Jazz Swings are Red, and GB and Bebops have light blue and pale green. But the unwound B and E (high) have a brass looking coating on them. They are not Silver, unless they were changed out.
And I wont use any other string. That softness that you refer to (or string tension) always keeps me coming back to TI's. But I do switch out the E and B strings. The TI E and B string are probably too soft, I personally think they oscillate too much.
JD
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TI does sell plain strings with a tin coating. You can get your choice of brass or tin, if you select the proper product.
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I'd never put flats on an acoustic guitar, but then I'd never put them on an electric either 
But ymmv and probably does...
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Deacon Mark,
regarding Ti's flatwound strings ,they have been
available in the UK for a number of years and I
have used them exclusively on all of my guitars
IIRC for 25 years at least, although I do not
venture into playing acoustic style guitars, I
use them for the very reasons Joe has quoted.
They are extremely long lasting and easy on the
fingers, no squeaks , and IMO good vfm in
their longevity in use.
Kind regards Silverfoxx
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I use Martin phosphor bronze acoustic strings. they don't last particularly long, but they sound glorious on my carbon fiber acoustic 
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I’ve been very averse to brass strings in general because they tend to sound very harsh to me. That finally changed for me when I had Mark Lacey do some work on my ‘36 Epiphone Deluxe. The strings I sent him were too short to work with the Frequensator tailpiece, so he put on a set of Elixir Nanoweb phosphor bronze strings. I guess it must be the Nanoweb coating that does it, but the harsh edge is not there and there is also less string noise. I’ve started putting them on other acoustic guitars, including ones with floating pickups with great results.
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I don't use 80/20s or brass either, just phosphor bronze, much warmer sounding.
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I put a set of D'Addario 80/20 strings on one of my genuine D'Angelicos and am loving them. John D'Angelico had a hand in developing these and I am considering using them on all of my acoustic archtops.
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On my humble L50, D’Addarrio Chromes (13-56) sound great. In fact I use Chromes on all my guitars, acoustic and electric; they feel and sound great, even on my flattops.
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I've been using Martin Retro Monel on my guitars. I find the bronze, both phosphor and 80/20, have a sound I just don't care much for, and don't last that long. I keep trying flats, just because people rave about them, but take them off and throw them away quickly. I don't like that sound either. But someone must be buying all those different types of strings offered for sale, and everyone's preferences are different. I won't argue with anyone about what strings they use.
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Update on this as yesterday I took the flatwounds off they were Daddario I easily could tell from the colored strings ball ends. I put a set of round wound 12-52 on and certainly the guitar picks up the vibe much more as expected. It is interesting in that this particular guitar is bright nice in the mid-range and even. Does not have what I generally call the L5c punch but more responsive to a lighter touch. To me it is a cross between a Johnny Smith acoustic sound and a nod at the L5. Bronze strings would of course bring out things even more but I have never been a fan of them just too bright and jangly. Does not possess the depth of bass as the D'angelico or my Barkers for sure but would not expect that.
I still have to get some of those Thomastiks flatwound and even the round wounds. Strings are an evolving process and finding strings to fit a particular guitar takes patience. You try things and then think you found gold only to later do something different and decide maybe it was not gold. Could be very well we chase our own tail too.
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Deacon, I've been really pleased with the TI rounds on my acoustics. For a long stretch, I was using the 80/20's, elixers, and others, but, when I went to the TI's, it felt much more soooothing to my ears, and I think they feel better too. I'm with JD on that. Usually 12's or 13's. They're just really warm sounding.
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