Be aware that some of the suggestions noted may be good products but are well outside your budget and that probably should have been established before any recommendations were offered.
You mentioned getting a quote from a sound installation company, is this a simple equipment
purchase that is a direct replacement for an existing
console or is this part of more comprehensive changes? If it is a direct replacement then what is it replacing and why are you replacing it? Knowing that might provide some insights into what users might be familiar with as well as the goals for the new
mixer. If the new
mixer is part of more comprehensive changes then might there be factors such as it being a brand your
system provider can provide and warranty?
You noted a $3k budget and wanting 24 to 32 inputs (preferably 32) and 8 auxes. You did not identify what type or mix of inputs may be desired, whether you want subgroups, whether you need or want
channel inserts or direct outputs, whether you have any existing external effects or dynamics processing, whether you want any internal effects of dynamics processing,
etc. Maybe the total quantity of inputs and aux sends are the only relevant considerations, but if there are any other requirements or desires that could narrow down the options.
You also did not discuss the services or use. For example, might you have multiple services with a short time between them that require different
mixer setups, say a traditional service with a contemporary service 30 minutes later? Would the
mixer be used by anyone other than church tech staff, maybe by other groups that use the space? Those types of considerations may also be factors in any
mixer selection.
that is actually the board that I think we may end up going with. about 1900 is what we were quoted a couple days ago. had also considered the Alan and Heath PA 28, but not sure of the overall benefits of jumping up to the GL2400 over this one. any thoughts?
Perhaps one thing to take from this is that if you can't understand the difference then maybe there is no difference. That may sound flippant but I mean that if you don't recognize a difference then it may not be relevant to you. I often see people getting caught up in comparing details or numbers that are not relevant to how the
mixer will actually be used. I remember somebody being concerned about the fact that one
digital mixer option could only be expended to 128 inputs while the other could support 256 inputs which would be a valid
point if you actually thought you might grow beyond 128 inputs but probably not somehng to worry about if you are going to max out well below that.
At the same time, details can sometimes matter.
Yamaha and the A&H PA28 and GL2400 were noted as possible options. In the
Yamaha analog
console lineup you'd probably be looking at the MG32/14FX, which has four aux sends switchable pre/post-fader in pairs and two post-fader aux/FX buses. The A&H PA28 has two pre-fader (FX and AUX) and two post-fader (FB1 and FB2) aux sends. The GL2400-24 or GL2400-32 both have six aux sends switchable pre/post as 1-4 and 5-6. If someone needed two pre-fader and two post-fader aux sends then all three mixers would work, but if you needed more than four aux sends total or more than two pre or two post sends then that would eliminate the PA28. In your case, the stated need for eight aux sends seems to eliminate all three models unless you could use two of the GL-2400 matrix mixes in lieu of two aux sends.
