Driver audio vs regular. What do you guys use?

[Carnious]

I have the base stereo, I’ve got a setting for directing the audio to the driver, or the whole vehicle.
I find it actually sounds a lot better when directed to driver, but what is it actually doing?
do you guys use this mode?

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[Porpoise Hork]

When setting it to front or driver it increases the power sent to the front channels. Thus they may sound better, however leaving it on whole vehicle and shifting the fade a few clicks to the rear vastly improves the sound stage for extended and SCREW's. Mine being a SCREW I shift it slightly back and an extremely happy with how it sounds.

From there upgrading the door speakers and installing door block-off plates from Sounds Good Stereo will make the single biggest improvement in mid-bass output that you can do and is worth every penny.

 

[Bucknut22]

When setting it to front or driver it increases the power sent to the front channels. Thus they may sound better, however leaving it on whole vehicle and shifting the fade a few clicks to the rear vastly improves the sound stage for extended and SCREW's. Mine being a SCREW I shift it slightly back and an extremely happy with how it sounds.

From there upgrading the door speakers and installing door block-off plates from Sounds Good Stereo will make the single biggest improvement in mid-bass output that you can do and is worth every penny.

I've been on the fence about the plates. Mostly because I've played the tinker game all my I'm life with vehicles and I currently have no rattles and don't want to mess anything up ?

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Lol I can appreciate that stance. When I installed the plates on mine it inadvertently fixed a couple rattles I had on my passenger door. I must have pulled that door card off 4-5 times prior to installing the plates trying to figure it out and never could. I suspect it was the door lock cable bouncing off the plastic weather sheeting or something else that I removed when the plates were installed.

 

[JCsTruck]

It adjusts the time alignment of the speakers and EQ as well. Basically a 1-seat tune vs all seat tune.

 

[Buyer2021]

It adjusts the time alignment of the speakers and EQ as well. Basically a 1-seat tune vs all seat tune.

Could be wrong but I suspect ^this^, too. I suspect it changes both the EQ (volume) and signal timing for each discrete speaker channel (both F/R and L/R) based on the selected occupant positions. That would be very easy to accomplish with a single chip in even the 'base' ACM. I know that the 'base' ACM in my 2014 Ford Escape did that (proven by audio analyzer testing).

As in that Escape, the F150 'driver only' selection could alter both F/R and L/R EQ and timing in recognition of the sole listener's off-center and front location.

Well understood by those who 'tune' audiophile systems, any given 'tune' of EQ and signal timing can only be optimal for a single listener position, all other listener positions will be compromised to some degree. IOW, no-one will get a 'truly optimal' experience with either the front-seat or all-seats selections, they'll all get the (hopefully) best compromised experience possible. But the single-position driver-only setting could provide an 'optimal' listening experience for that one position if both EQ and signal timing are properly adjusted for each discrete speaker channel.

The fact of what the seating position selector changes (EQ / signal timing) could be easily determined with inexpensive (or freeware) audio analyzer software on a laptop and a USB drive to provide the test-tones.

 

[JCsTruck]

The fact of what the seating position selector changes (EQ / signal timing) could be easily determined with inexpensive (or freeware) audio analyzer software on a laptop and a USB drive to provide the test-tones.

Room EQ Wizard and a UMIK-2 microphone with laptop. ?

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