High End 2025 International Audio Show, May 15-18, MOC Munich

The 42nd edition of the High End will mark a milestone in the long history of the international audio trade show. The High End will take place in Munich, Germany once again before moving from the MOC to the Austria Center Vienna next year. But before that will happen, it's time to say “Welcome to Munich” once again! With every corner of the MOC Event Center sold out, the 2025 High End promises to be another major moment for the audio industry.

Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2025 celebrated another milestone in the event’s history, with the highest number of exhibitors and a 15.5% increase in visitors from the previous year. The show was mostly about solutions, signal connectivity, networking, and control technologies. Fewer opportunities for product launches, and an attendance increasingly dominated by end users.

A Celebration of the Art of the Possible. CES 2025 was extremely successful. Even with the impression of fewer people because of the show being even more dispersed. In this first impressions report we discuss how Edge-AI (on-device) is transforming what is possible in audio processing. And of course there was MagSafe and Qi2. USB4. Bluetooth LE Audio. Auracast. Wireless Multichannel. And much more. This is necessarily a brief first impressions editorial to follow up on a very intense edition of CES, where the business-to-business aspects of the show have intensified as predicted.

The Finest Audio Show Vienna 2024 on November 23 and 24, was a resounding success for exhibitors, visitors and the organizer, and for the second staging in a row at the Austria Center Vienna (ACV), the location proved to be suitable for an audio show. Some 4,000 visitors, in an upbeat ambiance, experienced sound and audio equipment at its finest. The Austrian audio show is staged by the High End Society Service GmbH, which already announced that its Munich show will become High End Vienna in May 2026.

NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants), the largest global not-for-profit music trade organization, has announced its initial lineup of events and exhibits for The 2025 NAMM Show, taking place at the Anaheim Convention Center January 21–25, with events beginning on Tuesday, January 21. Exhibits start January 23, creating nonstop energy through late Saturday evening, January 25, 2025. Major brands are back in full force to NAMM Show!

The October 2024 Global Sources Hong Kong Shows at AsiaWorld-Expo have concluded after an intense month of activities. The three-phase show program, spanning multiple sectors including Consumer Electronics, Electronic Components, Smart Home, Lifestyle, Sports & Outdoor, and Baby & Children, attracted nearly 5,000 premium Asian suppliers and showcased over 500,000 innovative products, setting a new record for exhibitor participation.

Registration is now open for Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), the world-renowned annual systems integration show that combines the commercial and residential installation sectors in one, from lighting to audio with projectors and displays in the middle. Returning to the Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía from 4-7 February, the ISE team is promising the most dynamic and engaging show yet, with a host of new initiatives and features, now expanding to Hall 8.1, accessed via the North Access point.

Following a few intense days in the extremely warm and dry environment in Berlin, attending IFA 2024 - the Big CE Supermarket as I called it in my 2015 report - it felt great to move on to Amsterdam and attend the vibrant International Broadcasting Convention (IBC). Great, if it wasn't for the sudden change in weather with unexpected rain and a sudden drastic drop in temperature. IBC 2024 was a vibrant show with historical announcements from Sennheiser and Genelec, but our report also highlights the impressive expansion of Dante audio networking in this important industry segment. And many other reasons why everyone was happy to be at IBC.

A first impressions report focused on the audio side of IFA Berlin, where there is still plenty to see. From the Auracast Experience to a vibrant B2B environment. The largest consumer electronics and home appliances marketplace where “retail” and “resellers” meet is still alive and well. Celebrating 100 years of the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) Berlin (International Radio Exhibition Berlin), this vibrant trade show has evolved over decades into the world’s largest appliances and consumer electronics marketplace.

A step into a promising future is how the High End Society, the promoters of the High End International Audio Show, announce the decision to move the successful trade show from Munich to Vienna. Not immediately. The High End 2025 show will still take place in Munich. But it was long known that the success of the show was being strongly hindered by the lack of expansion space in the Munich MOC. After having promoted a regional show in Vienna, the High End Society found a new home.