This is the worst OEM audio system I ever owned?

[PoCoBob]

Maybe I'm just deaf but I'm not convinced about this Forscan mod everyone says is the cats meow. I have the 9 speaker system and made the change in Forscan and couldn't tell any difference so I changed it back to stock. Then I went with Crutchfields recommendations and upgraded the 3.5" and 6.5" speakers. I tried that for a couple months before I redid the Forscan change, still no difference so I put it back to stock. Then I realized Crutchfields recommended 6.5" speakers were barely any better than stock so I upgraded again, now I could hear a noticeable difference. But still no noticeable difference between stock and the Forscan change so I'm keeping it at stock.

I've invested as much time and money into this as I'm willing to. As it sits now some music sounds pretty good to my ear and other music sounds like two tin cans with a string between them. All my music is from MP3's on a usb stick so I'm spending more time finding better sources for the music than worrying about the audio system in the car.

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[m3incorp]

I don't think there are many or any who are replacing the head unit in the Mustangs. I changed out the headunit on my Fusion, along with adding amps, subs and upgraded speakers and it kicks my Mustang B&O butt. No line output converters needed. If you have a crappy low voltage output receiver and don't or can't replace it.....the yes that line output converter may be the way to go.....in the case of the Mustang, it isn't needed.

Brothers and sisters, the key to good sound out of a crappy factory head unit is a Line Output Converter
https://www.crutchfield.com/learn/what-are-line-output-converters.html

I have had too much joy without touching my Mustang audio at all but I have a GREAT system on my daily civic.

I saw I could never give up my touchscreen unit containing the car radio/head unit so I learned how to make the best of it. Changing just the speakers doesn't solve the problem of the crap feeding them. Adding a sweet amp is like taking a crappy mix of a live band, feeding the whole thing to a mic and turning it up louder. Garbage in. Garbage out.

A line output converter digitally re-processes the junk coming from the factory head unit and turns it into gold for inputting to an amp. I did this, replaced all the speakers and added a compact powered sub in the hatch. Night and Day!!!! I don't need to rattle your ass 2 blocks away but I can decapitate myself and get M80 bass thumping in my chest at 1/4 volume. Best of all, it sounds incredible at LOW volume. That's the best review I can give a system. Anyone can get loud. Clear and quiet is just great on a normal day

I might do this again in the stang - Say what you will about synch 3 but it's stable AF. So many factory touch screens try WAY too hard with features and lag the shite out of them. If I upgrade this one, I'll keep the factory system.

 

[Cathul]

Brothers and sisters, the key to good sound out of a crappy factory head unit is a Line Output Converter

No, it's not.

Using correct harnesses and reprogramming the ACM for a shaker system and ditching the stock amplifier is.
Beside that, the ACM in the Mustang has a high noisefloor, so the absolute best solution would be to replace the headunit by the help of an idatalink RR and the MFT1-kit (if you got the 8-inch screen that is).

 

[Cathul]

I don't think there are many or any who are replacing the head unit in the Mustangs. I changed out the headunit on my Fusion, along with adding amps, subs and upgraded speakers and it kicks my Mustang B&O butt. No line output converters needed. If you have a crappy low voltage output receiver and don't or can't replace it.....the yes that line output converter may be the way to go.....in the case of the Mustang, it isn't needed.

I did that in my Mustang, but went back to the SYNC3.
Not that it sounds better with the SYNC3, it absolutely does not, but it's way more convenient.
Idatalink RR only applies to US spec radios, means i loose almost all FM RDS functionality, cannot use HD Radio (not available in the EU) and loose DAB+ (Digital Audio Broadcasting, in the short future mandatory for all stock radios in the EU).
The SYNC3 system/ACM has a very high noisefloor and a non defeatable bass boost at lower volume.
While that isn't bad for daily listening as it mimics a cheap loudness function it's absolutely detrimental if you want to go to any sound competition like i plan to do in a few weeks.
Now i'm thinking about adding the Mosconi RC-CAN open module and digital output from my iPhone to the DSP-amplifier.
With the help of the CAN module i can still use all steering wheel and radio controls while having digital out from the phone to the amp.
This way i will have way less background noise while playing music from the phone, while still being able to control the phone via CarPlay (and i keep DAB+, FM RDS and stuff that's important in the EU).

 

[StangTime]

I have done my share of car audio installs over the years. Basic systems with DIN head units and RCA outputs. I learned all the tricks to eliminate noise. The noise floor in this car is better than anything I have worked on in the past. When doing my install I was prepared to deal with ground loops and alternator whine. Quite surprised after setting my gains there was zero alternator whine and a tiny amount of background hiss. FWIW I listen to all my music from a USB stick.

I have my ACM connected to my DSP via shielded ethernet cable. Twisted pair and balanced inputs on the Hertz H8 DSP are ensuring there is little noise. One oddity I found is that the noise floor seems to be higher when the engine is off. I was thinking the exhaust (set to quiet mode) and engine noise was masking it. I could be wrong but I listened closely to the tweeters in both cases and it was quieter when the engine was running. Weird.

The other thing I have found is if I use my DSP to control the audio volume and set the head unit at a fixed volume level of 25 or more, the background hiss completely disappears. At lower listening levels the attenuation in the DSP pushes the noise floor lower. When I am parked and listening to music, this is how I do it. The down-sides to this is the UP and DOWN volume buttons on the DSP controller kind of suck as opposed to a rotary control knob like the higher end Helix, Mosconi, and Audison controllers have. Plus the confirmation beeps and other sounds the Sync system makes get attenuated. So when driving around I set the DSP volume at -3db and use the knob on the head unit to control the volume. A comfortable listening level ends up being around 17 or so on the volume knob, just where the head unit bass boost ends.

 

[Cathul]

I'm currently looking into the Mosconi RC-CAN module that can send information like volume up/down, change on bass, mids, treble and other stuff to the DSP and let the DSP control all values this way.
It's especially usefull for volume control for directly connected phones that send their music data via optical cable to the DSP.
Have lowered the gain in the DSP amp for now to mitigate the hiss issue. Unfortunately my DSP amp doesn't support "balanced" inputs. :/

Whats odd is that i'm using a DSR1 as integration device and this should normally mitigate the hissing problem. I think i'll write to the idatalink support, but to be honest, i reckon that their answer will be "That's Rockford Fosgates fault".

 

[StangTime]

I'm currently looking into the Mosconi RC-CAN module that can send information like volume up/down, change on bass, mids, treble and other stuff to the DSP and let the DSP control all values this way.
It's especially usefull for volume control for directly connected phones that send their music data via optical cable to the DSP.
Have lowered the gain in the DSP amp for now to mitigate the hiss issue. Unfortunately my DSP amp doesn't support "balanced" inputs. :/

Whats odd is that i'm using a DSR1 as integration device and this should normally mitigate the hissing problem. I think i'll write to the idatalink support, but to be honest, i reckon that their answer will be "That's Rockford Fosgates fault".

The source of your noise is likely the DSR1. Are you using the DSR1 full output voltage of 4V? Is the gain in the DSR1 adjustable? Have you tried lowering it and boosting the gain further down the line?

 

[Cathul]

It is adjustable with a reflash.
I have flashed it for 4V input. If you lower the output the signal/noise ratio gets even worse.
At least I know for fact that it’s either the ACM or the DSR1, because when using my laptop as source to the Mosconi it’s dead silent.

 

[StangTime]

It is adjustable with a reflash.
I have flashed it for 4V input. If you lower the output the signal/noise ratio gets even worse.
At least I know for fact that it’s either the ACM or the DSR1, because when using my laptop as source to the Mosconi it’s dead silent.

If it is your ACM, not much to do except try a replacement.

 

[Cathul]

Out of guarantee unfortunately.
i just wish Kenwood, Pioneer, Alpine, Sony etc. would implement the idatalink port into their EU spec radios. <sigh>

Will try to reroute the RCA from the DSR1 to the ACM and use my old T-harness for testing the ACM.

 

[speedknot]

Ok. After doing some research, I pulled the trigger and bought a Forscan module. Not all are created equal. I got the Vgate vLinker FS. Its an auto switching unit that seems very stable and has support. I disabled the EQ and that bone rattling double honk when you get out of the car with the key, while its running. This worked like a charm. I consider myself computer literate, but I did get confused with some of the parameters. There are so many mods you can do with this unit and the Forscan software. There are spreadsheets available that give you the mod with the mapping. Most were from the F-150 forums, but its been said that most of the mods are universal to the mustang.
I have to say that doing the EQ disable took the choker off this system. FM and Sirius much better. Streaming Amazon music, in HD, from my phone is fantastic. The system can definitely use a little low end help, but for now, I think I may just do the door and back deck speakers and see where that leads. I give this mod a big two thumbs up.

 

[Evolvd]

Ok. After doing some research, I pulled the trigger and bought a Forscan module. Not all are created equal. I got the Vgate vLinker FS. Its an auto switching unit that seems very stable and has support. I disabled the EQ and that bone rattling double honk when you get out of the car with the key, while its running. This worked like a charm. I consider myself computer literate, but I did get confused with some of the parameters. There are so many mods you can do with this unit and the Forscan software. There are spreadsheets available that give you the mod with the mapping. Most were from the F-150 forums, but its been said that most of the mods are universal to the mustang.
I have to say that doing the EQ disable took the choker off this system. FM and Sirius much better. Streaming Amazon music, in HD, from my phone is fantastic. The system can definitely use a little low end help, but for now, I think I may just do the door and back deck speakers and see where that leads. I give this mod a big two thumbs up.

Is there a link to these forscan codes and how to find them? I’m new to this software and don’t want to jack anything up.

 

[Dave2013M3]

Ok. After doing some research, I pulled the trigger and bought a Forscan module. Not all are created equal. I got the Vgate vLinker FS. Its an auto switching unit that seems very stable and has support. I disabled the EQ and that bone rattling double honk when you get out of the car with the key, while its running. This worked like a charm. I consider myself computer literate, but I did get confused with some of the parameters. There are so many mods you can do with this unit and the Forscan software. There are spreadsheets available that give you the mod with the mapping. Most were from the F-150 forums, but its been said that most of the mods are universal to the mustang.
I have to say that doing the EQ disable took the choker off this system. FM and Sirius much better. Streaming Amazon music, in HD, from my phone is fantastic. The system can definitely use a little low end help, but for now, I think I may just do the door and back deck speakers and see where that leads. I give this mod a big two thumbs up.

I have said it before, the 6spker system with the Forscan retuned eq sounds better than out of the box 9spkr system. The added center channel and door midranges just muddy up the sound.

 

[1958cyclist]

Come on folks! Radio criticism really? That's why you bought this car?

 

[DougS550]

The bulk of any money I spend on this car will be performance or cosmetic oriented. I may just change out the speakers and do the forscan mod and call it a day.

What does the Forscan do? I have the shitty 9 speaker system to. I did up grade the four door speakers, and will order a custom trunk box this week and a amp and see how that sounds.

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