Mixing consoles
Behringer X32 vs Allen and Heath SQ-5
Quick answer
The Behringer X32 at $1,999.00 is the right console for most churches, because it puts 32 preamps and 25 motorized faders in the booth for half the price of an SQ-5. Choose the SQ-5 when in-ear monitoring makes its 96 kHz engine and sub-millisecond latency worth the difference.
Behringer 32 40-Input 25-Bus Digital Mixing Console, Black (X32)
$1,999.00 Specs and sizingThirty-two onboard Midas-designed preamps, 25 motorized faders and AES50 stage box support, at a price a church can approve in one meeting.
Best for: A 250 to 800 seat room with a band, where volunteers rotate weekly and scene recall saves the service
Check price on Amazon
Allen & Heath SQ-5 Digital Mixer, 48 Input Channels, 7" Capacitive Touchscreen, Automatic Mic Mixing, 32×32 USB Audio Interface
$3,999.00 Specs and sizing48 input channels, 36 buses and a 96 kHz engine with under a millisecond of latency, plus an automatic microphone mixer for panels and reading rotas.
Best for: A 500 seat and up sanctuary with a paid or highly skilled operator, or a multi-campus standard
Check price on AmazonBuy the X32 unless in-ear monitoring or a genuinely critical front end is driving the decision, because at $1,999.00 against $3,999.00 it gives you twice the onboard preamps for half the money. The SQ-5 earns its price on latency and preamp quality, not on size.
That is the honest framing, and it is the one most comparison pages miss. These consoles are not the same product at two prices. The X32 has 32 preamps on the back panel and 25 buses; the SQ-5 has 16 preamps on the back panel and 36 buses, and expects a stage box to carry the rest. If you only count inputs, the cheaper console wins outright. Work out your real input list on the mixer channel calculator before you compare anything else.
On this page
The two consoles side by side
| Model | Price | Input channels | Mic preamps | Mix buses | Faders | Motorized faders | Digital |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Behringer 32 40-Input 25-Bus Digital Mixing Console, Black (X32) | $1,999.00 | 32 | 32 | 25 | 25 | Yes | Yes |
| Allen & Heath SQ-5 Digital Mixer, 48 Input Channels, 7" Capacitive Touchscreen, Automatic Mic Mixing, 32×32 USB Audio Interface | $3,999.00 | 48 | 16 | 36 | 17 | Yes | Yes |
What actually separates them
Four things differ in a way a congregation can hear or a volunteer can feel. Everything else on the spec sheet is noise.
The SQ-5 runs at 96 kHz with under 0.7 ms of latency against roughly 0.8 to 1.0 ms for the X32, which only matters once musicians are wearing in-ear monitors.
| Difference | Behringer X32 | Allen and Heath SQ-5 | Who notices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onboard preamps | 32 | 16, plus a stage box | Anyone counting the input list |
| Sample rate | 48 kHz | 96 kHz | Nobody, in a room |
| Round trip latency | About 0.8 to 1.0 ms | Under 0.7 ms | Musicians on in-ear monitors |
| Mix buses | 25 | 36 | A band with six or more monitor mixes |
| Automatic mic mixing | Not onboard | Yes | Panel discussions and reading rotas |
| Street price | $1,999.00 | $3,999.00 | The committee |
Latency figures are the manufacturers published local input to local output numbers. Neither console is slow enough to be audible through loudspeakers; the difference shows up in earpieces.
Choose the X32 if you are buying a whole system
A church spending $1,999.00 instead of $3,999.00 has two thousand dollars left over, and that money buys a real upgrade somewhere else: a proper S16 stage box, a decent pair of mains, or the first two in-ear channels. Console money spent on preamp refinement is the last money a church should spend, not the first.
The X32 also has the deepest volunteer knowledge base of any console in this price class. Nearly every regional sound contractor and rental house has one, most visiting engineers have driven one, and the scene recall workflow is documented everywhere. On a rota where a different person mixes each week, that matters more than a specification. Our volunteer training guide is built around exactly this problem.
Practical limit to be honest about: the X32 is 48 kHz and its onboard effects engine is dated compared with the SQ. If your church is producing a polished audio podcast from the multitrack, you will notice. If you are mixing a Sunday service, you will not.
Choose the SQ-5 if in-ear monitoring is the plan
The single defensible reason to spend the extra money is in-ear monitors. Under a millisecond of round trip latency means a vocalist hears no comb filtering between the sound arriving through bone conduction and the sound arriving through the earpiece. At 1 ms it is fine for most people; at 3 to 4 ms, which is what you get once you chain a console and an outboard processor, singers start pulling an earpiece out. If you are heading toward the setup described in our in-ear monitor guide, the SQ-5 removes a variable.
The second reason is the automatic microphone mixer. A church with four lectern or panel microphones open at once has a gain-before-feedback problem that no amount of EQ fixes, because every open microphone adds 3 dB of room to the mix. An automatic mixer holds down the channels nobody is speaking into. That is a real feature for a liturgical church with a reading rota, and the X32 does not have it.
Thirty-six buses is the third reason, and it is only a reason if you actually need them. Count the mixes on the monitor mix calculator first.
What neither console fixes
A console does not fix a room. If the reverberation time in your sanctuary is over about 2.0 seconds, speech intelligibility is being destroyed before the console gets a say, and the money belongs in acoustic treatment instead. A console also does not fix gain structure: a volunteer running a preamp at unity and riding the fader at plus 10 will sound bad on either desk. Read the gain structure guide before you blame the hardware.
Neither console includes a stage box, and on both of them the stage box is what makes the cable run sane. Budget for it. The comparison between a digital and a copper snake is worked through on the snake page.
Sources
- Behringer published X32 specifications and latency figures
- Allen and Heath published SQ series specifications
Frequently asked questions
Is the SQ-5 twice as good as the X32 for twice the price?
No, and nobody should expect it to be. The SQ-5 gives you better preamps, half the latency and eleven more buses. Those are worth real money to a church running in-ear monitors and a large band. To a church running four microphones and a piano, they are worth nothing, and the X32 is the better purchase by a wide margin.
Can volunteers learn either one in a morning?
Both are learnable, but they teach differently. The X32 has more physical controls per function and an enormous pool of video tutorials, which suits self-teaching volunteers. The SQ-5 leans on its seven inch touchscreen and rewards someone who reads the manual once properly. For a weekly rotating rota with no dedicated operator, the X32 is the softer landing.
How many preamps do I actually need?
Count the platform, then add 30 percent. A typical contemporary service uses two to three vocal microphones, a drum kit at four to seven channels, bass, electric guitar, acoustic, keys in stereo, a preaching microphone and a playback feed. That is around 20 inputs, which fits the X32 onboard and needs a stage box on the SQ-5.
Does the 96 kHz sample rate make the SQ-5 sound better?
Not in any way a congregation will hear through loudspeakers. The higher rate is what buys the lower latency, and the latency is the real benefit. Anyone selling you 96 kHz as an audible quality upgrade in a room with a two second reverberation time is selling you the wrong thing. Spend that argument on the preamps instead.
What about the Midas M32 in the middle?
The M32 LIVE at $2,499.00 is the X32 platform with Midas PRO preamps and a heavier chassis. It sits between these two on price and front end quality, and it is a genuine option for a church that wants the X32 workflow to last twenty years. We work that through on the X32 against M32 comparison.
Will either console handle a multi-campus rollout?
Both will, but standardisation matters more than the model. Pick one console family and put the same desk in every room so a volunteer trained at one campus can walk into another. The SQ family scales more gracefully upward to the SQ-6 and SQ-7. The X32 family scales sideways into racks and producers at lower cost per room.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published manufacturer specifications, operator manuals, FCC rules, published standards and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Sound system design, rigging loudspeakers overhead, and any electrical work are jobs for a qualified professional: have flown loudspeakers and their attachment points signed off by a structural engineer or a certified rigger, and have all wiring done by a licensed electrician to your local code. Wireless microphone rules change, so confirm the current FCC position before buying. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.