Sometimes we discuss shows that have taken place, and other times we feel it is more appropriate to anticipate a forthcoming event and give emphasis to some unique opportunities of which our readers should be aware. That's the case next week.

The ultimate showcase of top-quality consumer audio products, this year's High End 2023, will take place once again at the MOC Event Center in Munich, Germany, May 18-21. Celebrating 40 years, the anniversary edition of this four-day event will also combine an exciting number of first-time initiatives, reinforcing even more what was always one of the best audio shows in the world.

As always, the Munich High End show offers a unique opportunity to see an impressive showcase of the best hi-fi, high-end, and luxury audio brands and manufacturers, combined with a diverse representation of international audio suppliers, from speaker drivers to amplifiers and all the imaginable parts and accessories for audio products. Also unique for any trade show, while mainly focused on hi-fi and home audio, the Munich annual show attracts a unique mix of consumer audio manufacturers, large and small, including some unique European brands that we only see here. There's also a great mix of home audio and personal audio products, with basically all headphone and IEM manufacturers in attendance. And for vinyl enthusiasts, the High End show attracts the largest number of brands and builders of turntables, cartridges, tonearms, and cleaning products, allowing attendees to feel the pulse of state-of-the-art products.

The first two days - Thursday and Friday - are oriented exclusively for the press and trade professionals, while the two days during the weekend are open to public - which might or might not show up in large numbers depending on the weather and there being some occasional local holiday. That also helps to make the High End show an always interesting gathering for the industry, which sometimes conveys directly at the show, and other times just remains spread across the vibrant city of Munich and its hotels in the area.

Promoted by the High End Society, High End 2023 will be once again underlined by an annual ambassador, this year being Al Di Meola. He will appear on stage for the media as the event’s honorary guest at the opening press conference of the High End on May 18 and afterward, visitors could encounter him during his tour of the audio show or meet him at the subsequent autograph sessions in the following days. Last year Alan Parsons was the annual ambassador, and in 2019 it was Steven Wilson, both of which surprised everyone by spending considerable time at the show and getting involved in the conversations.

The four halls and two atriums in the exhibition area cover a total of 30,000 square meters and the more than 1,000 participating brands offer many opportunities to enjoy music and technology with all the senses. What’s more, visitors can also enjoy a diverse program of live events such as panel discussions and presentations. And this year, for the second time, there will be the combination of a B2B platform expanding the trade show with the International Parts + Supply (IPS) exhibit area, now open during all four days.

It's there that audioXpress will spend more time, meeting a variety of familiar and new audio industry suppliers, and helping to support the activities promoted by the Audio & Loudspeaker Technologies International (ALTI) Association, which will promote its first ALTI Pavilion + Conference, co-located with the IPS Show.

As a solely B2B event, the IPS OEM trade show brings together the entire value chain and the supply part industry in one location. In its own area, directly next to the High End, the event will allow trade visitors and audio show exhibitors to establish contact with IPS exhibitors, get to know new partners, and expand their existing business relationships. The range of products presented stretches from high-quality electronic components to all the loudspeaker parts and new technologies. The ALTI Pavilion + Conference in Munich promises to be a major event with many ALTI member companies presenting their audio and loudspeaker technologies for the first time in Europe. There are exhibitors from the US, Europe, and around the world, offering all sorts of solutions for audio product development.

A comprehensive program of talks and presentations will also be available as part of the High End seminars on various topics in the audio world. During the first two days of the event, there will be an extremely interesting series of presentations created in cooperation with the ALTI Association. The Conference sessions will comprise both technical and business content and all will be in English.

For the opening session of the ALTI Conference, there will be a unique opportunity to hear from Analog Device's Matt Windmill, talking about hearables, and the convergence of personalized audio and wellness technology. The explosion of opportunities in the hearables space is being driven by a demand beyond ‘standard’ wireless headphones, such as personalized hearable computing, and rapid technological advancements in voice user interfaces and health monitoring. Analog Devices is at the center of that important technology trend, building partnerships and introducing leading technologies and solutions in the hearable and wearable space. A great opportunity for companies and professionals in the personal audio space.

Also focused on the personal audio space, Stefan Liebich, one of the co-founders of the startup Elevear, creators of technologies and algorithms for hearing aids and hearables, will be discussing how active processing can shape human perception. As Liebich explains, "hearables are becoming the smartphone of the ear. However, performing sophisticated signal processing in these small devices is challenging. In this presentation, we will discuss different aspects of natural hearing with hearables and we will give an overview of the current benefits and artifacts that hearables offer and expose to users."

For those more focused on the loudspeaker industry, the second conference will be presented by Kartesian, the French OEM designer-manufacturer that has already attended the first edition of the IPS in Munich and will now be directly involved in the ALTI activities as well. Attendees to the Kartesian session will have the opportunity to hear from Clement Lambert, the company's founder and an electro-acoustic expert working in the industry for more than 15 years. He will explain all the details about the ultra-high-end vKi speaker range and debut the Wom185_vKi low distortion midwoofer. The vKi range is based on a new state-of-the-art motor structure utilizing radial magnets and copper wells resulting in low and linear inductance, very long excursion, and very high force factor. Kartesian’s proprietary “dynamiK” spider yields constant Kms(X) and the “compound CGF” and “hexaKone” membranes increase cone rigidity by 10x while doubling the mechanical damping and maintaining low mass.

Clement Lambert, the founder of Kartesian during the 2022 edition of IPS.

For the many manufacturers present at the show, the conference will enable them to hear from Michael Trolle, VibrAkustik ApS, the distributor in Europe for Listen audio measurement solutions. Michael Trolle will explain the latest Enhanced Perceptual Rub & Buzz Measurement that Listen is offering now to increase yields in production.

In the test and measurement and simulation side of development activities, Peter Larsen, the founder of Loudsoft, will present the latest possibilities of its FINESuspension 2023, FINEBox 2023, and FINE DSP 2023 software tools. Peter Larsen is also presenting an interesting case study, about optimizing the Dinaburg C2S speaker topology in FINEBox. The special Coplanar Concentric Stabilizer from Dinaburg (C2S) can be designed and optimized in a powerful bass system using Loudsoft software. The C2S can be modeled and optimized directly in the software, where SPL, Xmax, and bass extension are accurately predicted. The linearity and geometry of the C2S suspensions can easily be optimized from templates using the FINE Suspension software. Then, the simulated responses and excursions of the C2S system may be exported into FINE DSP, where the maximum boosted SPL and bass response is predicted using DSP boosting and low frequency limiting. This case study will be presented at the closing of the ALTI conference sessions.

Also detailing the innovative Concentric Coplanar Stabilizer (CS2) technology from Dinaburg Technology, Roger Shively, the co-founder and principal of JJR Acoustics (Seattle, WA) will explain how this novel speaker topology can be used in loudspeaker design to improve the accuracy and quality of sound reproduction. The work presented during this presentation will cover COMSOL modeling work that was done to compare currently available technology with C2S technology and illustrate its potential use and benefits for current and future products.

Also, in the area of loudspeaker development and manufacturing, attendees should mark their agendas to hear from Joachim Schwender, Product Specialist at Ferrotec, responsible for all ferrofluid applications in speakers. In his sessions he will detail the characterization, material properties, and application impact of ferrofluids in speaker drivers.

And for those on the lookout for new revolutionary speaker technologies and licensing opportunities, there's two sessions explaining the new OEM 180° Bay Radial Speaker (BRS) from BAYZ Audio. First, consultant Mark Beach (and ALTI Association vice president) will discuss the performance of the new OEM 180° Bay Radial Speaker (BRS), which borrows technology from the 360° BRS (fully omni and flat to 50 kHz). Next up, Dr. Arpad Forberger will detail all the possibilities of this BAYZ Audio radial tweeter using COMSOL Multiphysics simulation.

The next session is also all about innovation in speaker transducer design and comes from Martin Turesson and Composite Sound, another company that attended the first edition of IPS and will return this year. Turesson, Head of Thin-ply Carbon Diaphragms (TPCD) at Composite Sound, will discuss how TPCDs enable undesirable resonance control in speaker diaphragms by tailoring its stiffness and thickness in different parts and optimizing the modal behavior.

For those attending the 2023 High End show and directly interested in meeting the companies exhibiting directly at the International Parts Supply (IPS) Show and the ALTI Pavilion, there are several companies that I have no doubt you will want to meet and see what they have to offer.

Participating for the second time is Purifi Audio, the Danish loudspeaker and amplifier innovator founded by Bruno Putzeys, Lars Risbo, and Peter Lyngdorf. At the company’s booth, visitors will also have the chance to talk to Carsten Tinggaard, Claus Neesgaard, Kim Madsen, and Søren Poulsen, all of which will have much to share about the company’s latest innovations. For now, all we can share is what Purifi already anticipated. The company will be showing its portfolio of ultra-low distortion transducers and amplifier modules, now expanded with a new 33mm dome Tweeter with "impossibly wide," controlled dispersion (PTT1.3T04-NAE), a new extended stroke 10" woofer (PTT10X04-NAB), and the latest high power amplifier with Second-Generation Eigentakt control and sub-ppm THD (1ET9040BA).

Another important reference when discussing audio amplification modules and electronics in general is Swiss company Weiss Engineering. Another second-time exhibitor at the IPS OEM section in Hall 1 of the Munich show, Weiss will present its OEM products, leveraging the platform for establishing more intensive contact with their customers and optimally showcasing their products tailored to their target group. The company, founded by Daniel Weiss (of Studer/Revox fame), has been an exhibitor at the High End show with its range of high-end audio products, always at the intersection of professional studio equipment used for mixing and mastering, and the highest expression of home audio fidelity. These products can again be found in other demonstrations from Audeze, YG Acoustics, WOD Audio, and Venture Audio.

It is precisely based on this extensive legacy and experience that Weiss has created a complete range of OEM modules to offer to the industry. OEM modules for high-end active speaker designs, with D/A and A/D converters, connectivity to various input and output formats, DSP processing for crossover filters, EQ, and more. All modules and processing can be modified to suit specific requirements for manufacturers. A special highlight from Weiss Engineering this year will be the OP2-BP (pictured below), a discrete bipolar operational amplifier that the company says can be used as a line driver, phono preamp stage, line receiver, and instrumentation amplifiers.

We underlined the presentations that will take place explaining the advantages of new drivers and topologies, such as those from BAYZ Audio and Dinaburg Technology. For visitors and manufacturers interested in new speaker technologies, there is another mandatory presentation at the ALTI Pavilion, this time in the first European demonstration of the Servobass Motion Feedback solutions. This company from Israel caused a sensation at CES this year, and will now showcase the advantages of its implementation in both desktop subwoofers and integrated solutions, such as the ZRS-1 plate amplifier, ready to power subwoofer configurations in home-theater and even automotive applications.

Plan to spend some time with Zami Schwartzman and pay attention to his Motion Feedback demonstration. "While the speaker industry struggles with the transition from century-old passive bass enhancement methods to digital processing technologies, Motion FeedBack (MFB) can bridge that gap with mature all analog servo bass control for woofers in small sealed enclosures," he states, and can impressively demonstrate.

And that's not all, at the IPS area there's also the first European presentation of Glass Acoustic Innovations Co., Ltd. (GAIT), the Taiwan company and pioneer of glass diaphragms for speakers. GAIT offers a comprehensive product line of very thin glass diaphragms that can be seamlessly integrated into loudspeakers or be used to produce new speaker drivers. The company has extensive experience manufacturing audio modules and counts a number of manufacturers as clients and will be attending the Munich show looking to highlight the full experience of its glass diaphragm technology. GAIT's portfolio includes a range of glass diaphragms, and the GlaXfi speaker driver range, with drivers from 6.5" for hi-fi speakers and soundbars, all the way to microspeakers for portable speakers and personal audio. The thin glass diaphragms can be delivered flat, molded, and even integrated with back LED lights inside the speaker.

GAIT will be exhibiting its unique glass diaphragm technology, and will demonstrate the GlaXfi collection of glass drivers in a special demo room.

Of course, there will be much more at the IPS B2B area and the ALTI Pavilion. Look for Danville Signal Processing for all your DSP implementation needs, check out the innovative Res-Core next generation speaker drivers from Resonado, and don't forget to talk to the experienced engineering team from StreamUnlimited Engineering, experts in audio amplification, voice, wireless, and network connectivity and much more. See you there!

May 18 to 21, 2023

Venue: MOC Event Center Messe München

Lilienthalallee 40

80939 Munich/Germany

Opening hours:

Thursday + Friday: 10am to 6pm trade visitors only

Saturday: 10am to 6pm

Sunday: 10am to 4pm

Organizer: High End Society Service GmbH

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