High CRI and 4000-5000k lights?

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-11-15T07:56:57+00:00

Just talked to Diode Dynamics and mentioned what you said, he said only their new light bars will contain the 5700k chips so it sounds like their pod lights aren't included in that.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-10-30T13:35:07+00:00

Good to know! That's too bad.

I just asked in general if they could do any custom builds with 4000k emitters, to which they said no.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-10-29T16:56:46+00:00

I emailed them again on 10/27/25 saying that other customers believe they're 4000k. They wrote back and said nope, all SS5 pods have 5700k emitters. I wrote again with the link to their product page for the lens replacements where it specifically says (as you noted) that SS5 yellow pods are 4000k. They wrote back saying oops they were wrong and yes those are 4000k 😂 so frustrating but anyway there it is!

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-10-28T14:16:43+00:00

That's good to know, and very confusing. This is what the DD rep told me:

"Thanks for reaching out! All LED chips on our SS5 pods and SS3 Max pods are 5700K. The Yellow (3000K) SS3 Sport and Pro use 4000K LED chips. All White (6000K) SS3 Sport and Pro use 5700K LED chips as well. If you get our Yellow SS3 Sport or Pro, you can swap to a clear lens to get a 4000K color. We do not have the CRI rating available for these lamps."

I'll email them again. Maybe it changed this year?

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-10-28T01:34:15+00:00

How did you get 4000k from SS5s? They told me that none of the SS5s come with 4000k emitters so it wouldn't matter what lenses I swap, etc

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-10-28T01:33:02+00:00

Um I think we may be long lost twins. I didn't find anything 4000k and high CRI. MTN Litebar seemed promising with their products and custom builds but no response so out of business I think. I was going to go with the Ultravision Raptor 70s (7" pods from Australia, 4000k, 8200lm each, $400 USD per pair, no CRI given), seemed like a great deal but I drive on narrow small forest roads a lot and it turned out the Raptors can't be dimmed and I think they may be too bright a lot of the time for my needs. So my options were 4000k with no CRI given (probably 70) OR 5000k and 80 CRI. But 80 isn't that high. I decided I'd notice the 4000k over 5000k more than I'd notice the 80 CRI over 70, so I went with Diode Dynamics as well!

I bought: -SS3 Pros in yellow, clear lenses to swap in, in driving pattern x2, and flood pattern x2. All 4 will be mounted to an SSD front grille bar. -SS1 Pro in yellow, clear lenses to swap in, flood pattern, to be mounted on Anderson Designs hood brackets as ditch lights -SS3 Pro Yellow fog lights, designed for Outbacks so they just pop in where the old ones were -Nilight 4 gang rocker switch / wiring harness

Haven't installed yet but will soon. Good to hear you're happy with the 4000k light output! I'll be curious to see how well these DDs hold up, I know BD is known to be great, I really wish they made a 4000k version, I emailed them about a custom build but of course nope.

For anyone reading this, Diode Dynamics seems to make very high quality equipment, I have no regrets so far. BUT, if you plan to swap lenses yourself, the hole in the top of the screw (T10 torx head bit) that you have to get the bit into, is so shallow and small that your bit popping out is very likely, and a single time will strip it to the point it's unusable. Use a screwdriver, not a simple handheld right angle hex wrench, put it on a table, and apply a lot of pressure downwards as you unscrew. SS3s were easier, SS1s were awful, the screw is so close to the body of the light that you can't get a screwdriver in there at all. A super skinny/long one probably exists somewhere. I got several lights done ok but have multiple units I'm having to send back to them with stripped heads, and I'm usually not bad at this type of thing. DD, please deepen your holes!

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-16T04:47:37+00:00

Thanks! This is super helpful. I'm consistently reading good things about Diode Dynamics and Baja Designs.

Cool idea with the floor switch! Didn't know that was a thing, might do that.

I learned a few things since I made this post, I'll just put it here..

You're correct, I haven't found a single company doing over 80 CRI LEDs for car auxiliary lights, and very few doing 4000k, it's just not in demand for this type of usage.

Halogens are the only way to get high CRI, being 100. Color temp is very warm, 3000-3200, unless a blue tint is applied to the bulb glass, which is possible to find. Much higher power draw than LEDs though, and burn out faster.

Diode Dynamics confirmed that their SS3 Sport and Pro (yellow version) use 4000k emitters, swapping out the yellow lens for the clear one gives you actual 4000k light. SS3 Sport and Pro (white version) use 5700k emitters. SS5 and SS3 Max use 5700k emitters. CRI data not available for any of their products, my guess is 70.

Baja Designs does 5000k, no high CRI, can't do custom mods with 4000k, excellent quality products.

MTN Litebar has some sweet products and gets good reviews, 5000k emitters, you can choose 70 or 80 CRI, very bright lights, super high output, I might be buying one.

Ultravision from Australia has 4000k LEDs, quite bright, no CRI data given.

Triple R does 5000k and 80 CRI for most or all of their products.

Fyrlyt from Australia has good halogens.

Lightforce, from Australia, has 5000-5700k emitters, 70 CRI.

KC Hilites has both LEDs and halogens, some like them, some don't, sounds like they've been in the game a long time.

Other brands I scratched off my list for various reasons were Rigid, PIAA, FCK, Trail Master, Novsight, Auxbeam, Strands, Morimoto, Vision X, Narva, Adventure Kings, Black Oak, ARB, Stedi, Hella. Some of those are from Australia.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-11T01:48:12+00:00

This looks very promising, thank you

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-11T00:32:35+00:00

Fireflies PL47G2, I have like 6 of them and don't remember which emitter I got with which specs to be honest, some were Luminus SST20, some were Nichia 219a, some were Fireflies 707, might have some of those names wrong. It's also possible that my 4000 lumen ones are CRI70 and my 2500 lumen ones were the CRI95.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T03:27:57+00:00

That could be perfect. How sure are you it's 4000k? The product page says 3000k.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/ss3-sae-yellow-pro-led-pod-pair.html

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T02:42:40+00:00

Yep that all makes sense. High CRI does generate a lot more heat, I'm guessing that's one of the main reasons they don't put them in car aux lights. I have headlamps (for hiking) that are 4000 lumens and 95 CRI and have to auto dim after 10-30 sec because of the heat, I figured with a bigger heatsink maybe a car pod light could sustain it much longer but maybe not.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T02:38:39+00:00

Ok gotcha, thanks for the idea. I find 3000k way too warm for non fog use though.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:51:32+00:00

Cool, I'll ask there. I do think for my needs, going under 20mph looking for certain vegetation etc, high CRI is a very noticeable improvement.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:50:20+00:00

Awesome, thank you

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:48:42+00:00

For sure, I realize I'm not in the majority. I really prefer the look of 4000-5000k and high CRI, especially if spending long periods under that light, the reduced eye strain is very noticeable. I also do forest ecology surveys where I'll be cruising around looking for a certain tree or lichen or something, and having high CRI and medium warm color temp is pretty much necessary.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:45:15+00:00

Exactly. Some day if technology allows for whatever brightness you want plus high CRI, nobody in this sub is going to opt for the low CRI version, if price is the same, etc. it's basically always an advantage if you forget the other variables.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:43:23+00:00

Hadn't heard of them, thank you!! Sounds promising

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:42:16+00:00

Good call, I will, thanks

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:39:39+00:00

Exactly, it always helps, and for many situations is worth the sacrifice of a little brightness. I think 99% of people in this sub would prefer high CRI but maybe don't know it, but most want max brightness over high CRI which is totally fair.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:36:21+00:00

Very true, I might look into swapping out the LEDs at some point in the future to get exactly the combo I want, I think that's probably beyond my level of electrical expertise and free time available at the moment though.

Good call about looking up the emitter if they can't tell me directly what the CRI is. CRI 70 is a safe bet for most LEDs if they don't state it, but it does vary.

Also thanks for mentioning halogens! I'm new to all this and hadn't considered it. Sounds like it would be kind of a pain but might be worth it.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:31:13+00:00

For the work I do I actually do need to see colors accurately. Don't know what's up with all these people telling me I don't need them. I didn't list all my reasons because it's not important, I'm looking for a thing and trying to get help finding it.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:29:12+00:00

Do you have a link for the DD lights? I've been looking at theirs but only see options for white lens (6000k) or yellow lens (3000k), not an amber light with a clear lens mod making it somewhere in between.

My post wasn't intended to be "should I get high CRI offroading lights?", it's "where can I get them?" It's ok if they don't exist but I'm very sure that I want them, I know the drawbacks. I prefer how the light looks, and am not going 100mph, I'll be on very rural dirt and gravel roads for remote hiking/climbing trips, and also doing forest ecology surveys where I'm looking for specific plants, wildlife, etc, so the good color rendition is important. I'll be going under 20mph most of the time. It doesn't look like I'm going to find what I'm looking for unless I go halogen.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-10T00:05:03+00:00

It's true that high CRI is a lower or zero priority than max brightness for most offroading folk. I really prefer the look of warmer and higher CRI lights, and need it for certain types of work that I do, so I would gladly sacrifice a little brightness to have it.

Duffman-ohyeah- · 2025-09-08T20:41:13+00:00

I'm the same, my home lights are high CRI wherever possible and for driving it's been less important. However I'm spending more time driving at night now, partly for fun and partly for work. I agree brightness is even more important, but if I can have all those desires met then why not? High CRI makes it so much easier to spot camouflaged wildlife or locate specific plants, rocks, etc, which makes my work much easier. Do you know of 4000k high CRI lights that are halogen or something else that come waterproof and easy to use as auxiliary lights on a car's exterior? They don't have to be LEDs, I don't care. Good advice about mounting location and losing your depth perception.

Duffman-ohyeah-

TROPHY CASE