Improve your aftermarket audio build starting point!

[OEMRadio]

I've just read this thread again and the things you guys achieve sitting in front of the TV blows my mind! OEMRadio, please confirm my thoughts here please.
I have the prem 9 speaker (no sub) with amp at drivers side kick panel.
I can splice into the front speaker lines, convert to RCA and run to front channel on aftermarket amp. You have to grab the INPUT to the factory amp.. solder an RCA cable onto those wires and run it.. the factory radio is already a low level output so you just take an RCA cut one end and solder the 2 wires onto the wires of the input to the amp.
I can splice into rear speaker lines, convert to RCA (with or without Y adapter depending on aftermarket amp) and run to rear channel on aftermarket amp. If multi channel amp, it should sum output for sub. if using separate amp for front/rear & sub, use Y RCA spitter at rear channel.Yes.. you have a premium.. so you have to keep the rears because the reverse tones play through the rear output.. but just do the same as what I said for the front.. most amps if they are a 5 channel can combine the rear or front to the sub.
The splice can happen behind the ACM or anywhere before factory amp correct?
At this point people can either take that low level input and run to an aftermarket DSP then to the amps OR have you flash the ACM to eliminate the added DSP hardware? Yes. as long as you are grabbing the INPUT to the factory amp you can grab at either point. You don't have to use a DSP thats up to you.. but I would at minimum remove the processing.. and aftermarket processor just doesn't do the job needed.. because the factory processing is variable depending on volume.. for an aftermarket processor to do its job you have to use the volume of the processor and not the car..
I know I'm a little slow but I think that breaks it down to my level! ;)
P.S. When cutting front speaker wires do I now lose the front center channel that is summed from the factory amp? Does this cause my sync feature to stop working? Seems like I heard this somewhere.

No.. this affects nothing Sync works like it always has.. the center channel I have to look at.I haven't looked at the center and how it is set up..

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[NewTekBuzz]

No.. this affects nothing Sync works like it always has.. the center channel I have to look at.I haven't looked at the center and how it is set up..

Ok, so with you removing the processing from the ACM, and I DO NOT add it back in with DSP or bass restoration. I run right to my aftermarket amps and control with volume on OEM radio? Last question, for the front channel could I run a Audiocontrol EQL 13 band eq before front channel amp?
Much appreciated,
Tim

 

[OEMRadio]

Ok, so with you removing the processing from the ACM, and I DO NOT add it back in with DSP or bass restoration. I run right to my aftermarket amps and control with volume on OEM radio? Last question, for the front channel could I run a Audiocontrol EQL 13 band eq before front channel amp?
Much appreciated,
Tim

Yes.. If I remove it you can use the factory volume.. you can run anything you want before the amp.. all I do is give you the best possible starting point. thats it.. if you want to tweak and tune and all of that.. that is your decision

 

[blakedanatural]

Hello,
I have the shaker system w/no sub 9spk set up. I just installed a powered sub( Thanks Sandpiper) and I want to upgrade the speakers. I want to power them with a better amp(than the factory one). Im guessing 40 to 50 watts per channel. What amp brand do you reccomend and is it a hard install for a non professional?
Blake

 

[Moddiction]

I'm fairly clueless when it comes to car audio. What would be best bet for base stereo to get better sound, louder and more bass? Can I replace all speakers and get an amp and sub easily? Not sure if things are limited due to head unit.

 

[OEMRadio]

I'm fairly clueless when it comes to car audio. What would be best bet for base stereo to get better sound, louder and more bass? Can I replace all speakers and get an amp and sub easily? Not sure if things are limited due to head unit.

Ill send you a PM

 

[Skywalker]

shaker pro question

Hi OEM, appreciate the thread/video.

Most of what I read is about the standard sync system, but what about the shaker pro system: if I just wanted to put in my pair of 10s and amplifier that I already have and keep the current speakers would this be something I need/should do? I figured I'd start with that and could do a speaker upgrade later on

 

[OEMRadio]

Hi OEM, appreciate the thread/video.

Most of what I read is about the standard sync system, but what about the shaker pro system: if I just wanted to put in my pair of 10s and amplifier that I already have and keep the current speakers would this be something I need/should do? I figured I'd start with that and could do a speaker upgrade later on

Honestly my programming is only for those that want to do a full system.. so for just subs what you have done is really all that can be done.. until you add an amor.. once you do decide to add the amp for the rest of the system then we can do the programming

 

[Mid_life_crisis]

After reading about initialization strings and which bit does what, I have to wonder; could you figure out how to disable the fake engine noise?

 

[OEMRadio]

I already do that .. That has been something I've done for a while on ecoboost cars

 

[Mid_life_crisis]

Is it still necessary to send the unit or will the dongle mentioned in the harness thread do all of this for those that purchase it?

 

[OEMRadio]

Right now I don't have the programmer to ship.. So yes it does.. but I am hoping soon... I have been on the phone with the engineer working on it..

 

[2016Gruv]

I work for Ford - I personally know the guys who do the ACM programming. What your saying here is *mostly* correct, but should note that the primary motivation or assumption thereof is not entirely correct. The way it works, the audio guys have to play nice with other engineering teams (like weight; good dampening usually adds weight for example)... so there are constantly compromises made in that area. However, the majority of whats setup in the oem DSP is from measured frequency and phase response and according adjustments. There is a ton of work that goes into these cars and the audio engineers use an array of calibration microphones and tweak the output to match a targeted EQ curve.

Thus, you are completely correct when you say removing this processing is tantamount to performance without headaches and extraneous costs when using aftermarket gear.

All of this being said, I am an IT worker and not a vehicle nor electrical nor auto-sound engineer. I work literally in the building next to them and have interacted enough to pull of very much the same feat your accomplishing here. I was able to modify my as-built data per their recommendations using the Ford IDS setup, and then (now) I've figured out how to do so using relatively cheap aftermarket alternatives to the IDS interface. I'm a self-proclaimed audiophile and a huge tech geek so I wanted to be able to do it myself... I've just now managed to figure out how to do that outside of the scope of using things internal to Ford only (ie: stuff I could not, for fear of employment/confidentiality issues)... I'd love to have a chat and share some findings/info if you're up for it - check each others work so-to-speak

I know the second byte in the first ACM string controls output mode, this mode is one of three options: variable amplified (aka standard speaker output), fixed line-level (ie: pre-amp where the amplifier receives constant volume and the amplifier turns up/down), and variable line-level (like that of a typical aftermarket radio). I also know that most of this is VIN/platform specific... in my case byte 5 and 6 are the EQ settings - setting to 00 00 should effectively turn off that part of the processing (no EQ, time alignment, or crossover filtering) - I would assume this is what you've managed to do as well? I've not had the opportunity yet to hook up an oscilloscope and prove the difference - but I'm hoping/planning on making a video toggling the setting and showing before/after to prove it all out.

The volume-dependent processing you're referring to is really just a result of the parametric eq filtering plus or minus so many db at specific frequencies. There is also an inverse auto-loudness function that I've not been able to figure out (yet) to defeat. There's a LOT that goes into this, most vehicles for instance will have a resulting "cabin gain" somewhere in the 60-70hz range ... this there is typically a sharp eq cut here. The problem with removing that and replacing with aftermarket speakers is two fold though, on the one hand the new speaker will have a different frequency response and may well play better than the oem did - on the other the acoustics of the cabin havn't drastically changed and that cabin gain is still there, effectively even more so without the associated cut/filtering. This is where aftermarket processing has to come back into play.

My car right now is a 2015 Mustang GT performance pack - with the base radio option, having killed the eq/filtering I'm feeding the acm signal into 4 Zapco DC series amplifiers (which have networked built-in DSP to tune with). I've also replaced all the factory speakers, added dampening and better sealing in the process and added a subwoofer. I'm running all active channels (ie: tweeters on their own amplifier, not passively crossed-over/connected with the door speakers). What I'm working on now, is trying to correct the time alignment setup - from what I was told the delay per channel is part of the eq/filtering being defeated too but I don't really know how to measure/prove this yet. I'm assuming the factory filtering is what comprises the majority/bulk of the rest of the ACM configuration data - even more so I'm assuming these somehow equate to bi-quad functions... it'd be amazing to be able to reverse engineer that into an application someway to allow self-tuning one day. Anyways - long winded intro here so I'll leave it at that, and I'm hoping we can compare notes further

This makes so much more sense than anything else I've read on the subject of DSP in the Mustang. I totally get the parametric EQ changes to counter cabin (room) modes and possibly act a bit like a limiter. I wonder if the "inverse auto-loudness" is simply like turning off a contour/loudness control? See the Fletcher-Munson curves for more info.

unix_usr, it would be interesting to ask the guys who do the ACM programming what they have to say about crossover and high-pass filtering values. Specifically, what are the Xover and HPF frequency points?

 

[billross77]

Im ready to have mine programmed when you get a chance. All speakers have been replace and amp is online and working.

 

[15RRGT]

Me too

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