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Focus RS MK3 Audio/Radio rear speaker fade FIX!!! Finally used FORScan…

20K views 48 replies 21 participants last post by  JamoRS 
#1 · (Edited)
Finally got around to using Forscan today. I bought a HS/MS ELM327 from Amazon a couple years ago but I never used it. I was about to buy another one when I vaguely remembered having one… good thing you can search your Amazon history. But where was it? When I found it I remembered what happened. It arrived with a mini cd with “drivers” and the bag had a sticker saying “disable antivirus and firewall”.
Product Font Material property Rectangle Gas

When I saw that I said “Not today…” and chucked the whole thing to the side. I ended up throwing it in a box with electrical components to collect dust.

Well I found some drivers and was able to get the ELM327 up and running without using the mystery disk.

I tooled around changing the normal stuff… global windows, Bambi mode, etc

Searched online and found someone had said they thought they had better audio after making some changes on the DSP. I made their change and it seemed better. Then I played around with the numbers. I ended up with much better audio and a fader that is near equal!!!

WTF. I had my car at the dealer to fix this issue at one point. They even replaced the DSP or APIM. (Don’t remember which)

Oh well. It seems great now.

Below is the setting in the DSP.
Font Technology Screenshot Rectangle Display device

783-02-01, I changed the second digit 0X00. *Update: 0x0x should be changed together. FORscan will fix it if you only change the first x but will show a checksum error. Started with 6 and went up from there. C seemed to be great. I also changed the third digit which changed the last digit from 0 to 9 🤷‍♂️

Number combos tested: 018E, 028F, 0390, 0491 (stock RS), 0592 (Escape w/Sony), 0693, 0794, 0895 (Focus ST w/Sony), 0996, 0A97, 0B98, 0C99, 0D9A, 0E9B, 0F9C.

My default setting was 0491. Current setting is 0996. It had the best balance of working fade and loudness adjustability.

This made my day 😆

Compared as built data to Focus ST and Escape with premium Sony sound systems.

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#3 ·
Just tried it. To my ear, it definitely sounds better! Thanks for posting!

This reminds me of a related question, the BCM shows 'no subwoofer' on my car (the 'easy' config in Forscan). I was afraid to change it, but I wonder if anyone has tried.

My subwoofer does do something (it's vibrating) but it doesn't seem like anything significant.
 
#6 ·
I reconnected the center speaker to see how it sounded and it was fine. No crackles or distortion. Just seems like the amp wasn’t really on for the rear from the factory. I tested 0996 up to 0D9A and it seems like the loudness increases each time. 0x0x need to be changed together.

0996
0A97
0B98
0C99
0D9A
 
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#7 ·
Very interesting! I wonder if this is the reason the subwoofer sounds underpowered? Is the sub on it's own line, or would it be affected by this rear fade issue too? Admittedly, I don't know anything when it comes to audio wiring. Although I did replace the stock sub with a Kenwood KSC-SW11. But I barely notice a difference. Wasn't expecting drastic change, but at least something...
 
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#8 ·
The speaker diagram shows all the speakers (front, back, and sub) are driven by the same DSP i.e. the Sony amp.


After the change the sub seems to be better. Overall, it now sounds like a “premium” factory audio system that it was supposed to be.
 
#17 ·
This is a pretty amazing discovery.

I was always completely happy with the Sony system in my ST, but never cared for what should be the exact same system in the RS, minus the Sub that is in the ST. I guess I'm going to have to break down and get a Forscan thingy and give this a try.

Is there a chance of completely messing things up if you don't know what you're doing, like me?
 
#25 · (Edited)
This is a pretty amazing discovery.

I was always completely happy with the Sony system in my ST, but never cared for what should be the exact same system in the RS, minus the Sub that is in the ST. I guess I'm going to have to break down and get a Forscan thingy and give this a try.

Is there a chance of completely messing things up if you don't know what you're doing, like me?
It's as simple as double checking your entry into a spreadsheet field and reading from another one to get the data.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Tested all settings from 018E to 0F9C. I’ve now settled on 0996. 0C99 is a bit overdriven. 0491 is one of the worst settings. Even numbers below it seem to have better fade.
 
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#22 ·
Great find, and thank you for sharing this. I went out and bought a wired OBDLink EX, and downloaded Forscan, etc just for this :) I'd considered getting it a number of times, but this was the one that triggered me!

It may have also pointed me in the right direction for figuring out why my KW Coilovers cancellation isn't working. Pointing me to which damper is not reading.

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#30 ·
Definitely improved the sound somehow, took a bit of adjustment on my way to work but I definitely enjoyed listening to the radio at higher volume than usual. Probably due to better balance as others have said and I also seem to hear more subtle sounds now too, as if the change also made the resolution better. Or perhaps just my setting now are better, anyways great free upgrade totally worth the time it took to re-install Forscan on the new laptop and get a new free trial license 👍
 
#28 ·
I got this one and it works well. It doesn't need the switch, it switches automatically.

 
#31 ·
Finally got around to using Forscan today. I bought a HS/MS ELM327 from Amazon a couple years ago but I never used it. I was about to buy another one when I vaguely remembered having one… good thing you can search your Amazon history. But where was it? When I found it I remembered what happened. It arrived with a mini cd with “drivers” and the bag had a sticker saying “disable antivirus and firewall”.
View attachment 358063
When I saw that I said “Not today…” and chucked the whole thing to the side. I ended up throwing it in a box with electrical components to collect dust.

Well I found some drivers and was able to get the ELM327 up and running without using the mystery disk.

I tooled around changing the normal stuff… global windows, Bambi mode, etc

Searched online and found someone had said they thought they had better audio after making some changes on the DSP. I made their change and it seemed better. Then I played around with the numbers. I ended up with much better audio and a fader that is near equal!!!

WTF. I had my car at the dealer to fix this issue at one point. They even replaced the DSP or APIM. (Don’t remember which)

Oh well. It seems great now.

Below is the setting in the DSP.
View attachment 358064
783-02-01, I changed the second digit 0X00. *Update: 0x0x should be changed together. FORscan will fix it if you only change the first x but will show a checksum error. Started with 6 and went up from there. C seemed to be great. I also changed the third digit which changed the last digit from 0 to 9 🤷‍♂️

Number combos tested: 018E, 028F, 0390, 0491 (stock RS), 0592 (Escape w/Sony), 0693, 0794, 0895 (Focus ST w/Sony), 0996, 0A97, 0B98, 0C99, 0D9A, 0E9B, 0F9C.

My default setting was 0491. Current setting is 0996. It had the best balance of working fade and loudness adjustability.

This made my day 😆

Compared as built data to Focus ST and Escape with premium Sony sound systems.

View attachment 358087
View attachment 358088
Thought I was the only one with an issue like this, thank you!
 
#32 ·
Being following this thread for a long time, made the change to 0996 today. I had the radio on at normal volume when I wrote the code through Forscan and I was impressed with the difference right away.

I even came back and forth a few times to double check, basically the rears where not emitting any sound (only a tiny tad bit at higher volumes). Now I can enjoy a more 'full´ dynamic sound experience. I tweak the fader and the T/M/B sliders and works beautifully.

THANKS for sharing!
 
#33 ·
mmmkay. I got my FORScan thingy. Downloaded the app to my laptop. plugged it into my ODBII port... Wondered around in the different areas... I think I found the DSP module, but the app is telling me I need an extended license to actually do anything. Is this true? I know I can get a 2 month trial from doing some research. Is this what everyone else here did? Or am I just slow. :rolleyes:

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#35 ·
It’s up to you. I believe you can request the two month key multiple times with different emails. To limit my hassle I bought the full version.
 
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#37 ·
I finally had time to try to mess with this again this afternoon.

Not gonna lie, the change was amazing. The whole system opened up. I couldn't get over how much the audio changed.

I have no understanding of what those numbers that were changed mean, just glad it worked.

The bass is a lot stronger now. Not sure if the sub was awakened any, or just having another pair of door speakers helping to reproduce some of the bass helped. I actually think it sounds better than the ST3 system now. I don't remember the bass shaking the rearview mirror like the RS does now.

I put some beat on with Spotify and cranked it until I could hear distortion. I gave up around 20. I was worrying that I might start to burn a voice coil. The bass is really strong, you can now feel it through the butt and back. It only dips down into the mid 40Hz range, but I can't get over how strong it feels. This was with all of the tone controls set flat(in the middle). I bought an ST sub many years ago to integrate into this system, but lost time and interest. I now want to hook it back up and see if there is any improvement.

The soundstage has also opened up. I can now hear how it moves the sound all around the cabin, while using the center channel. I never noticed the center channel until now. I'm very pleased.

I did notice that at low volume the changes don't come alive until I'm moving some. I thought I turned off the road compensation tab. Maybe it reset itself. I only was able to play with it for about 30 minutes, but I'm now eager to listen to music in the car, whereas before it was mainly used as background noise. (y)
 
#38 ·
I finally had time to try to mess with this again this afternoon.

Not gonna lie, the change was amazing. The whole system opened up. I couldn't get over how much the audio changed.

I have no understanding of what those numbers that were changed mean, just glad it worked.

The bass is a lot stronger now. Not sure if the sub was awakened any, or just having another pair of door speakers helping to reproduce some of the bass helped. I actually think it sounds better than the ST3 system now. I don't remember the bass shaking the rearview mirror like the RS does now.

I put some beat on with Spotify and cranked it until I could hear distortion. I gave up around 20. I was worrying that I might start to burn a voice coil. The bass is really strong, you can now feel it through the butt and back. It only dips down into the mid 40Hz range, but I can't get over how strong it feels. This was with all of the tone controls set flat(in the middle). I bought an ST sub many years ago to integrate into this system, but lost time and interest. I now want to hook it back up and see if there is any improvement.

The soundstage has also opened up. I can now hear how it moves the sound all around the cabin, while using the center channel. I never noticed the center channel until now. I'm very pleased.

I did notice that at low volume the changes don't come alive until I'm moving some. I thought I turned off the road compensation tab. Maybe it reset itself. I only was able to play with it for about 30 minutes, but I'm now eager to listen to music in the car, whereas before it was mainly used as background noise. (y)
Great to hear! The center channel is definitely improved. I had previously disconnected my center speaker due to it being overdriven. I saw some ST owners had unplugged the center speaker to “improve” the audio. After changing the settings I reconnected the center channel and it sounded great.
 
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