As the global meeting-place for the audio industry, the forthcoming HIGH END 2016 in Munich is already providing important impetus early in the year. Even though there are still three months until the start of the HIGH END 2016, the outlook is already looking promising for the fair where the industry really shows what it can do.

A positive trend is already emerging for the world’s leading trade show for high-quality electronic home entertainment, even though registration has only just been closed. At present, all 137 enclosed room units between 49 and 297 square metres in the upper atrium floors of the MOC are sold out, which means we can expect another full house for the 2016 fair and there will almost certainly be a waiting list.

The four large main exhibition halls on the ground floor are also already well filled and the planners at the HIGH END SOCIETY are working flat-out on planning and positioning the many and varied stands, and designing the highly demanded music demonstration booths, that were acoustically optimised only last year at the HIGH END and are thus much in demand from audiophile exhibitors in halls 1 to 4.

For Branko Glisovic, CEO of the HIGH END, the challenge of assigning places at the HIGH END is a happy one, although the limited number of conference rooms and exhibition spaces means a certain number of potential exhibitors will have to miss out.

As always, in choosing the exhibitors it has to be ensured that their products and  services suit the remit of the fair, and thus the focus is on increasing quality, which is    far more important to the HIGH END SOCIETY than selling more and more spaces to as many exhibitors as  possible.

The HIGH END has become the world’s leading platform for the audio industry. As well    as the many German sellers, who will be a big presence this year as always, the interna- tional orientation of the HIGH END has significantly increased. In 2015 more than 60%     of the companies exhibiting came from abroad. Many of the world’s leading suppliers    will be presenting their latest developments at this year’s fair. This focus is clearly on network audio technologies. Music systems are becoming smarter and more intercon- nected. Multi-room systems and wireless speakers are in more demand than ever, and   it

is these which are currently driving the growth of the audio sector. At the HIGH END, the exhibitors impressively demonstrate the innovation with which they meet the constantly growing expectations in our high-tech everyday   lives.

At the HIGH END 2016, start-ups will once again have the opportunity to show off their ideas and innovations free of charge. This year, eight new companies will be contribu-    ting new technology and ideas. They include the German company xivero, which will be presenting a precise, software-based “measuring instrument” called MusicScope, which acts as an audio microscope and visualises the various quality features of a music file or collection. You can use it to analyse digital music albums and analogue sources without needing the wide-ranging expertise of a sound engineer. For example, it is possible to easily verify and demonstrate whether a file created by up-sampling standard recordings   is genuine. As a measuring tool to complements our ears, it can provide quantifiable information on the quality of a music recording.