Is a LOC really needed?

[Draxed]

Hi guys tomorrow im getting my Sub and amp installed on my 2019 F150 XLT Non Sony, just stock 8" screen with sync 3, (hertz hcp 1dk, and alpine type R 12) the install guy said that he suggests to install a LOC for 60$ and says that its strongly recommended to clean up the Bass Roll Off, and flatten the frequency before the amp . Do I really need one? I believe my Amp already has Hi Speaker Levels and i was thinking to just tell him to tap into the front speakers to avoid buying the LOC will that work? Or should i purchase it for 60$? My other question is do i need a line-in converter? or is that the same thing as a LOC? Thanks guys

[MegaG]

Quick background:

Ford is notorious in the Mustang 6G (2015+) community for the bad factory EQ and the bass roll-off. Many of what was done to overcome that was learned from the F150 Community. Ford uses poor EQ which includes but isn't limited to the bass roll off to protect their lousy speakers so that part is legit.

Regarding your first question:
Its true the right LOC can help the bass roll off from the bad EQ but I'm not sure your price point would have a good version of that feature. Further, IMHO, they are overselling it saying the LOC is going to flatten the frequency before the amp, its not a DSP. From what I have seen the LOCs that can correct bass roll-off is that they tend to be in the higher price points but I am not famliar with all of them.

Regarding your other question about the line-in convertor, the LOC is a line output converter that takes the high level signal inputs and converts them to a low level signal outputs. Nothing else is needed to get the signal to your amp other to feed it with a full range signal or a signal designed for a mono sub. Some factory systems have high frequency only channels so you never want to tap those for bass but your installed will (or should) know all this.

All that said, it is not uncommon to use a LOC to add a sub amp.

Just for some background, I'm not necessarily suggesting it, but in the Mustang and F150 communities many have made programming changes in Forscan to remove all factory processing. This involves going into the OBD2 port with a laptop and making some changes.

Some new products will now make those changes for you through their hardware and a non random sequence of cycing e-brakes and other items to cause Forsan to be reprogrammed but its a more expensive solution then what you are looking at. Still this video maybe beneficial to just understanding that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7s2_TyUPHE&t=497s

But more importantly, do a search on their channel for F150, they have done a lot of F150 installs. This will help educate you on what to expect and maybe what questions to ask.

https://www.youtube.com/c/FiveStarCa...water/featured

[Jdunk54nl]

The 2016-2019 f150 non amplified version does have bass roll off on the REAR channels, but the FRONT channels are fairly flat and a loc is not needed.

This was for my 2014 (should be valid from 2013-2015 for sure), but the more I see of others measuring the output of their head unit before speakers, the more I notice it also applies to the 2016+

https://www.f150forum.com/f30/head-u...-level-467373/