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[Aaron Cole]

I have a need for a loud battery operated unit with some wireless mic capabilities and am considering this unit from sound projections https://www.soundprojections.com/voice-machine

Typical applications of a unit like this is to reproduce the sound of a metronome at volumes loud enough to help marching bands rehearse. Additionally, it is nice to have a second channel available for voice reproduction to give instruction on the marching band field. Often the unit needs to be placed in areas without electricity, so battery operation is a must.

But, me being a diy fan with a couple home speaker projects completed thought, well I wonder if this would ever work with the B&C dcx464 and their me464 horn and crossover. Accompanying the box would be at least 1 but ideally two channels of Shure mid tier wireless (like SLXD or QLXD).

https://www.bcspeakers.com/en/products/coaxials-hf/1-4/8/DCX464-8

Anyone know of any good batteries, amps, etc. on the market that could be built into a diy box like the sound projections one above? Total budget for one box would need to be less than $3000, otherwise it probably makes more sense just to buy the sound projections one.

Also, if you have experience with reentrant horns vs. the dcx464 or maybe the bms coaxial compression driver, is the sound quality enough of a difference to make this diy project even worth the hassle?

[Uwe Riemer2]

Sounds like a fun project.
I would look into the car hifi market.
There should be 4-channel amps available with built in DSP, so you can make the 464 sound decent and protect it.
In the "home on wheels" market you will find decent batteries and undervoltage protection circuits.

Input mixing for two channels of wireless might require some creativity

[Tim McCulloch]

The speed of sound is your limitation.  It's why orchestras have a conductor and marching bands have a drum major using *visual* means to set tempo and cue players.  Light travels much faster than sound.

[Aaron Cole]

The speed of sound is your limitation.  It's why orchestras have a conductor and marching bands have a drum major using *visual* means to set tempo and cue players.  Light travels much faster than sound.

Yeah, totally.  That is why in rehearsal situations we place the metronome speaker box back field behind the band.  The metronome is hooked up to a wireless pack and a second output can optionally go into headphone for the drum major.  Drum majors are typically trained to conduct the beat they see in the center snare drum player's feet while they are marching (assuming the battery percussion are stationed back field).

For further reading there is a person who made an excel document that helps calculate metronome sound delay and synching a marching band together. 
https://percussioneducation.com/metronome-sound-delay-explained/

[Art Welter]

Also, if you have experience with reentrant horns vs. the dcx464 or maybe the bms coaxial compression driver, is the sound quality enough of a difference to make this diy project even worth the hassle?

The B&C dcx464/me464 horn will sound better than a re-entrant horn, but neither will do much below 400Hz. The dcx464 has about 3 times more output potential than 1 high power 1 3/8" exit PA/siren drivers, but at around 3 times the cost of a pair. The extended high frequency of the dcx464 without having low frequency below it actually will sound "weird" compared to the usual 6kHz roll-off of re-entrant horns with a similar 400 Hz Fc.
A single me464 horn's 60 degree horizontal dispersion will be a drawback- to cover the drummers evenly will require a long distance from them, increasing delay and echo.
A pair of 60 degree re-entrant horns angled left/right would allow more even coverage with a closer position without killing the center drummer's hearing for less $$.

See response #13 for some cheap and cheerful options:
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pa-systems/366803-looking-pa-system-2.html

You could assemble a device like the "voice-machine" for about 25% the retail cost, but DIY time could stretch into weeks by the time you complete it.

Art

[Aaron Cole]

The B&C dcx464/me464 horn will sound better than a re-entrant horn, but neither will do much below 400Hz. The dcx464 has about 3 times more output potential than 1 high power 1 3/8" exit PA/siren drivers, but at around 3 times the cost of a pair. The extended high frequency of the dcx464 without having low frequency below it actually will sound "weird" compared to the usual 6kHz roll-off of re-entrant horns with a similar 400 Hz Fc.
A single me464 horn's 60 degree horizontal dispersion will be a drawback- to cover the drummers evenly will require a long distance from them, increasing delay and echo.
A pair of 60 degree re-entrant horns angled left/right would allow more even coverage with a closer position without killing the center drummer's hearing for less $$.

See response #13 for some cheap and cheerful options:
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pa-systems/366803-looking-pa-system-2.html

You could assemble a device like the "voice-machine" for about 25% the retail cost, but DIY time could stretch into weeks by the time you complete it.

Art

Yeah, the dcx464 might be overkill in terms of spl requirements plus the weirdness of only having the compression driver without the low end.  I could DIY my own reentrant horn kind of thing, but I think it were to DIY it I would want it to sound way better and maybe play lower.  Might be better just to buy the reentrant horn thing.   Maybe a 2 way box could be made though that plays down to 100 or 150 hz or so that doesn't weigh a ton?  I suppose yet another idea is to take an existing loudspeaker like a QSC k8 or something and make a battery/shure wireless box to go with it.

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