First Impressions of my 2023 Lightning Pro

[mattskr]

Welcome! Congrats on the new truck.

Regarding your thoughts on the computer though, it's not as you have envisioned. There's not one central computer that gets an update. Instead, there are over 150 microcomputers, called modules, and each one is likely developed by a different supplier, in a different coding language, and some are more cooperative with updates than others.

To use your cell phone update example as an analogy, it's like the truck has hundreds of cell phones in it of different operating systems and manufacturers. If 1 needs an update, Ford needs to get it from the supplier, send it to your truck as part of a bundle they call "Power Ups", then hopefully it installs and plays nicely with all the other cell phones in your network.

Most people's issues are not getting OTA updates at all or getting them several months after the first person. Which in our FOMO world is frustrating. The second issue is the update not being able to install for whatever reason. Good news is other than those two issues, once you get the update installed, there's usually not any issues.

The poor state of software is easily my biggest complaint in this truck, but it's the way Ford has done their ICE vehicles for a few years now and there was no way to build a new computing system from the ground up and get the Lightning out the door in the time they did.

Sponsored

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

How did you connect the amp to the head unit, are you bypassing the original DSP and did you roll your own?

I utilized all the existing wiring in the truck and connected the amp to the headunit. I used a Kicker keyloc to convert the speaker line to the sub.

I found a really nice fellow that made me a custom wiring harness that made the entire process simple.

 

[shutterbug]

The best scenario would be power unlatch but manual open/close, like most car trunks have been for 25 years.

Up to date Mach-Es do this.

There is nothing on MME key fob that deals with the frunk. You have to pull out your cell, open fordpass, and click on the button to unlatch the frunk. Of course, mine doesn't even do that.

 

[Maquis]

There is nothing on MME key fob that deals with the frunk. You have to pull out your cell, open fordpass, and click on the button to unlatch the frunk. Of course, mine doesn't even do that.

You can buy a Lightning fob and program it for the MME and pop the frunk. You can also use the door keypad. 2021s require software update first.
Ford thought everyone would embrace PAAK and forgo the fob, but lack of PAAK reliability, especially early on, prevented mass adoption.

The bottom line is that it could be possible for Ford to provide power unlatch for the frunk without the clunky, slow, noisy power up and down. But then they couldn’t advertise the “Power Mega Frunk!”

 

[Tundra]

Welcome! Congrats on the new truck.

Regarding your thoughts on the computer though, it's not as you have envisioned. There's not one central computer that gets an update. Instead, there are over 150 microcomputers, called modules, and each one is likely developed by a different supplier, in a different coding language, and some are more cooperative with updates than others.

To use your cell phone update example as an analogy, it's like the truck has hundreds of cell phones in it of different operating systems and manufacturers. If 1 needs an update, Ford needs to get it from the supplier, send it to your truck as part of a bundle they call "Power Ups", then hopefully it installs and plays nicely with all the other cell phones in your network.

Most people's issues are not getting OTA updates at all or getting them several months after the first person. Which in our FOMO world is frustrating. The second issue is the update not being able to install for whatever reason. Good news is other than those two issues, once you get the update installed, there's usually not any issues.

The poor state of software is easily my biggest complaint in this truck, but it's the way Ford has done their ICE vehicles for a few years now and there was no way to build a new computing system from the ground up and get the Lightning out the door in the time they did.

Thanks for this, makes a lot more sense as to the state of things.

 

[BhamDCam]

but then I started doing EQ; and color me impressed things came together.

I'm not an audio person at all. You mind sharing your EQ settings you used?

 

[JRT]

Cool feedback, I traded to my XLT ER from my 2021 Mach-E, 31k miles, and 2014 Ram 1500, 138k miles. I picked lower trim on purpose because I didn't want the Mach-E screen anymore and also wanted a shorter truck since my Ram was the Crew Cab with longer bed. The screen is awesome and the heated seats and steering wheel is great. The Mach-E was amazing, then became a constant headache with SW glitch causing the center screen to reboot and lock up repeatedly on just about ever drive.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

But then they couldn’t advertise the “Power Mega Frunk!”

I thought it was called that because of the outlets...

 

[Maquis]

I thought it was called that because of the outlets...

Hmm….maybe

 

[T-Bone]

I must admit, the very last thing I cared about when buying the lowest trim model, Lightning Pro, was the sound system. But given the OP's background in audio, I understand the post.
I tow and haul for a living but I still wouldn't buy a Ford Escape and give a three paragraph thumbs down on it's limited towing capacity lol

 

[Tundra]

I must admit, the very last thing I cared about when buying the lowest trim model, Lightning Pro, was the sound system. But given the OP's background in audio, I understand the post.
I tow and haul for a living but I still wouldn't buy a Ford Escape and give a three paragraph thumbs down on it's limited towing capacity lol

I think the three paragraphs was an overall thumbs up from me. haha

The audio system was not a deciding factor in the purchase of this vehicle, but I was curious none the less, and the main audio system people talked about was the B&O, finding information on the stock system was difficult, hence the three paragraphs.

 

[Amps]

Don't Sell My Data: I noticed in the app, that user data was automatically selected as being sold by Ford and that I had to manually tell them not to do this. Not cool.

If, by chance, you have trouble getting updates, go back to this bank of several connectivity settings to start your troubleshooting.

 

[Tundra]

For those of you who are not into audio, feel free to ignore this one!

I'm not an audio person at all. You mind sharing your EQ settings you used?

I spent some more listening time.

Where I landed for the Lightnings fixed EQ is:

Treble: -3
Midrange: +3
Bass: +1

---

This is a good starting place, however there are more specific things that were bugging me for music, so I wanted to get a little more granular while still keeping the above decisions in play, I used my Poweramp app, which has a full parametric EQ and made the following moves:

50Hz; Q 3.04; +3.6dB: This is closer to the fundamental of the speakers in the Lightning, so it felt like a nice add, especially for electronic, R&B, and rock. With the width of this boost it is adding from roughly 40-60hz. Note: I am not sure of the driver protection/limiting features in the stock amp, so if you listen loudly this could be hard on your drivers, I listen fairly quietly so I am not super worried.

105Hz; Q 6.27; -3.6dB: This felt muddy, so a cut here made the low stuff more present and musical.

119Hz; Q 2.48; -4.3dB: This felt muddy, so a cut here made the low stuff more present and musical.

517Hz; Q 1.15; -3.7dB: This range felt boxy on vocals, drums, and instruments; a wide cut here smoothed things out some.

5.94kHz; Q 1.15; +5dB: This is in the presence/clarity range for a lot of vocals, acoustic instruments, and drums, a wide boost helped to give some sheen/detail (keeping in mind we took a lot out with the vehicle's treble EQ)

13kHz: Q 0.34; -3.6dB - High-shelf: The stock speakers in the car have top-end crispy detail that is not distinctively pleasant, this helped to gently tame that.

If you have the Poweramp app you can download the above EQ from this link.

---

If you are not familiar a parametric EQ means that you have control not just the gain, but also the frequency, width, and potentially even the filter shape.

---

From a methodology point:

As a live sound engineer I mix on a lot of different PA's. On a good day I might be working with Meyer Sound or L'Acoustics... on a bad day I get something that is less than desirable. My job is to make whatever I have that day to sound as good as I can, in the room I am in, with the sources/band I have been given. That is my approach to doing some corrective EQ with this vehicle. All things considered it really is not a bad sounding system.

To the point I have mixed on MANY systems that do not sound as decent as this vehicle. No it doesn't sound as good as my monitors in my mixing suite or my listening room setup, but with a little EQ love it sounds quite passable. I was actually enjoying listening to music on my way home earlier tonight.

---

After some work this is the nicest sounding vehicle I have owned, and one of the nicer sounding vehicles I have driven, to which I am including a Tesla model S, and several vehicles with premium sound offerings from the respective auto companies.

---

As a note for the low-end frequency reproduction of the Lightning. The speakers start to dip significantly in volume at 45Hz and below; at this frequency it possible to add a boost to add more, although you will be taking a hit to your systems headroom.

Below 35Hz the speakers really start to drop off in volume, but they do produce 35Hz reasonably well, which I was quite surprised by! That is not bad for stock speakers in a car without a sub! I have been in a lot of vehicles with "subwoofers" that cannot produce 35Hz. At this frequency and below, you can not realistically add any more volume with an EQ boost; if you want more down here, a subwoofer is in order.

Once you get rid of some mid-bass bloat, the low-end on these is fairly musical, meaning I can hear specific bass notes, rather than the speakers being a one note wonder (most cheap subs are one note wonders, they produce a lot of volume, but the precise frequency of the bass is not readily distinguishable). Obviously the stock Lightning system does not go as low as having subwoofers, but for what it produces it is acceptable.

---

Yes, nicer quality speakers properly powered with some methodical DSP/tuning will be a much better starting place than this, but that is not inexpensive and this was free. So before upgrading, give this a shot.

 

[HGBlob]

This is the post I was looking for! Thanks for the setup!

Downloading Poweramp now!

For those of you who are not into audio, feel free to ignore this one!



I spent some more listening time.

Where I landed for the Lightnings fixed EQ is:

Treble: -3
Midrange: +3
Bass: +1

---

This is a good starting place, however there are more specific things that were bugging me for music, so I wanted to get a little more granular while still keeping the above decisions in play, I used my Poweramp app, which has a full parametric EQ and made the following moves:

50Hz; Q 3.04; +3.6dB: This is closer to the fundamental of the speakers in the Lightning, so it felt like a nice add, especially for electronic, R&B, and rock. With the width of this boost it is adding from roughly 40-60hz. Note: I am not sure of the driver protection/limiting features in the stock amp, so if you listen loudly this could be hard on your drivers, I listen fairly quietly so I am not super worried.

105Hz; Q 6.27; -3.6dB: This felt muddy, so a cut here made the low stuff more present and musical.

119Hz; Q 2.48; -4.3dB: This felt muddy, so a cut here made the low stuff more present and musical.

517Hz; Q 1.15; -3.7dB: This range felt boxy on vocals, drums, and instruments; a wide cut here smoothed things out some.

5.94kHz; Q 1.15; +5dB: This is in the presence/clarity range for a lot of vocals, acoustic instruments, and drums, a wide boost helped to give some sheen/detail (keeping in mind we took a lot out with the vehicle's treble EQ)

13kHz: Q 0.34; -3.6dB - High-shelf: The stock speakers in the car have top-end crispy detail that is not distinctively pleasant, this helped to gently tame that.

If you have the Poweramp app you can download the above EQ from this link.

---

If you are not familiar a parametric EQ means that you have control not just the gain, but also the frequency, width, and potentially even the filter shape.

---

From a methodology point:

As a live sound engineer I mix on a lot of different PA's. On a good day I might be working with Meyer Sound or L'Acoustics... on a bad day I get something that is less than desirable. My job is to make whatever I have that day to sound as good as I can, in the room I am in, with the sources/band I have been given. That is my approach to doing some corrective EQ with this vehicle. All things considered it really is not a bad sounding system.

To the point I have mixed on MANY systems that do not sound as decent as this vehicle. No it doesn't sound as good as my monitors in my mixing suite or my listening room setup, but with a little EQ love it sounds quite passable. I was actually enjoying listening to music on my way home earlier tonight.

---

After some work this is the nicest sounding vehicle I have owned, and one of the nicer sounding vehicles I have driven, to which I am including a Tesla model S, and several vehicles with premium sound offerings from the respective auto companies.

---

As a note for the low-end frequency reproduction of the Lightning. The speakers start to dip significantly in volume at 45Hz and below; at this frequency it possible to add a boost to add more, although you will be taking a hit to your systems headroom.

Below 35Hz the speakers really start to drop off in volume, but they do produce 35Hz reasonably well, which I was quite surprised by! That is not bad for stock speakers in a car without a sub! I have been in a lot of vehicles with "subwoofers" that cannot produce 35Hz. At this frequency and below, you can not realistically add any more volume with an EQ boost; if you want more down here, a subwoofer is in order.

Once you get rid of some mid-bass bloat, the low-end on these is fairly musical, meaning I can hear specific bass notes, rather than the speakers being a one note wonder (most cheap subs are one note wonders, they produce a lot of volume, but the precise frequency of the bass is not readily distinguishable). Obviously the stock Lightning system does not go as low as having subwoofers, but for what it produces it is acceptable.

---

Yes, nicer quality speakers properly powered with some methodical DSP/tuning will be a much better starting place than this, but that is not inexpensive and this was free. So before upgrading, give this a shot.