Bob,
Here is a similar request I made in the past:
ME1 lite version or AES50 protocol
I wanted to build out a six mixer (with POE hub) system to work with my well pimped out GLD80 system. My eyes were opened. $5500 retail for the A&H, $1600 for the Behringer system. Now, put the purchase of a QU mixer on top of that and wow. The ME1 has features that set it apart from the crowd but most of the great features are unusable until you upgrade your mixer to a GLD or I-Live. If you ONLY need the features of the competition then the whole A&H ecosystem does not make sense. For the price difference you can buy a spare IEM mixer and spare Ethernet cabling plus a whole X32. Yikes. I have to re-evaluate the whole IEM system thing now that they offer Dante and a rack mounted mixer that can be used as an inexpensive Dante to AES50 converter at a reasonable price.
The X32 would not work for my theatrical audio for a number of reasons so I went with the GLD80. I will buy A&H IEMs when there is either a price drop of the ME1s or a stripped version is introduced (ME2 maybe).
John