Higher, Faster, High End? - That was the HIGH END 2016
It can't be said often enough: the High End in Munich is by far and widely recognized as the most important hi-fi trade show in the world. Even though some people in the industry here still haven't realized it, and stay away from the event citing the long and complicated journey and the timing over the long weekend. Sure, that's understandable, since after all, Munich Airport—which can be reached from anywhere in Germany in less than an hour—is at least 10km away from the exhibition center. Of course, the several thousand international visitors have it much easier, because if you're flying in specially from Australia, Japan, India, China, the USA, Russia, or the rest of Europe, at least the flight is worth it... Okay, joke (and a shake of the head in disbelief) aside, for us the High End in Munich has always been and remains a must-attend event. Only here can we so effectively maintain our national and international contacts, and only here do we get such a close-up look at the ideas, trends, and new directions shaping the hi-fi industry today and especially in the future. Here is our small and admittedly somewhat subjective show report:
The most important news?
The international standing of a trade show can also be seen in the fact that companies time certain announcements to coincide with the start of the event. In connection with this year's High End, there were two well-timed pieces of news that dominated the general show gossip.
MQA signs deal with Warner
For almost two years now, Meridian founder Bob Stuart has been promoting the music format he developed, MQA, which is supposed to enable high-resolution sound with minimal file size. This could indeed revolutionize the market for high-quality music, as it would make it possible to stream high-resolution music almost regardless of connection speed, data volume, and bandwidth. So far, however, actual MQA content has been in short supply, but that could now change very quickly. As MQA and Warner jointly announced, the two companies have signed a long-term contract, so Warner Music will soon begin making its extensive music catalog available in MQA format. Exactly when it will start, whether it will initially be just for downloads, or whether the long-announced MQA streaming from Tidal will finally become reality, is still unknown. One can only hope that more major labels will follow Warner’s example and also jump on the MQA bandwagon.
Bowers & Wilkins has been sold
Even though the MQA/Warner deal is certainly interesting, the takeover of the traditional British company B&W by the previously virtually unknown start-up EVA Automation from California made even bigger waves. However, if you look at the background of the sale, this surprising move seems quite exciting. Behind EVA is Harvard graduate Gideon Yu, a highly successful Silicon Valley manager who previously worked at Yahoo, YouTube, and Facebook, is co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers, and wants to develop a revolutionary new concept for the sound systems of the future with EVA. According to his own statements, he has now completed this concept and was looking for a technically strong partner to turn it into real products. With B&W, he has definitely found that partner, and we can look forward to the first results of this unusual union, which are expected at the end of 2016/beginning of 2017.
The highlights of High End 2016
Of course, there were also plenty of new things to marvel at on site in Munich, including a true high-end offensive from Audionet, the new Contour series from Dynaudio, amplifier premieres from Chord-Electronics, and much more. For an overview of the most important news, just browse through the following picture gallery. By the way, we make no claim to completeness—there was simply too much to see, hear, and discover in Munich.