In 2025, we were exhibit again at the world’s largest high end audio trade fair in Munich. The event was also special because due to the rebuilding of the MOC halls in Munich, the high end show will move to Vienna from 2026. This is not bad news for Hungarian exhibitors and visitors. The question is, of course, whether the same professional attendance will be repeated in the High End Society’s organisation that made the show in Germany the world’s number one such event. We have already exhibited in Vienna and compared to the Munich venue, exhibition and logistical facilities, we can say that a similar successful presence can be achieved here.

This year, we arrived to the 14 May Construction Day with the same familiar team of exhibitors. Ferenc Koscsó, with his vast experience and extensive international contacts, once again strengthened and mentored our team, while on the sales side, László Bese (Jozé) represented the decades of experience and knowledge that is essential for the sale of Djabe and Quality Vinyl Projects materials. For my part, I represented Djabe, the label (GR1993 Records), the musical and production background of our master tape and vinyl products to the public, and negotiated with interested companies and distributors. Our Djabe Audiophile Vinyl Records and Master Tapes booth did not include a sound cabin this year, but the open booth area was increased, which gave us the opportunity to show our releases on tape, turntable and cassette deck with headphones. In addition, the Blu-ray version of our most recent audiophile-quality release, Djabe with Chieli Minucci: Tour of Waterfalls, was presented on a large-screen TV and a high-quality sound system provided by Ferenc Koscsó, in compliance with the maximum volume of 75 decibels required by the directors. At the planning stage I had my doubts about the effectiveness of this solution, but on site it turned out that this volume is perfectly suited to presenting our music and can work with headphone systems.

The use of a video monitor also proved to be a good idea, because apart from a few large projection walls, it is completely absent in the booths and demo rooms of High End Munich 2025. At the same time, it proved that many quality music listeners are still looking for high-quality recordings on Blu-ray and even DVD. Sales of both formats exceeded the planned volumes.

What was our stand about?

The Djabe’s audiophile-quality releases, with a focus on analogue products.

In the design, we made sure that our most significant recordings were prominently featured in the decorations and on the equipments used for demos. We continued to have the leading products and the biggest interest was in Djabe: Art in Tone full analogue direct-to-tape and direct-to disc recordings. We had a sense of déjà vu with the fact that once again many producers purchased these albums, and after their demos, we had people coming to our stand interested in obtaining this release in some format.

One of our new releases at the Munich Show was the album Djabe with Chieli Minucci: Tour of Waterfalls, which was released this year in April, on 2×2 track master tape, 3LP, 2CD and Blu-ray formats. The most important feature of this recording from an audio point of view is that it was recorded on 24-track analogue tape and the master was also on analogue tape. It has been extremely well received by the professional and general public, not only in terms of sound but also in terms of music. In my opinion, this is one of Djabe’s strongest recordings.

The third main feature was the collaboration between Djabe and Steve Hackett. Although many people are familiar with the Djabe – Steve Hackett collaboration, they still marvel at our joint recordings and the rich selection of albums released under the Djabe & Steve Hackett name at every international exhibition. Of course, the Freya – Arctic Jam album, released in February, was the most popular, but many people also listened to the album Carpet Crawlers.

The audio cassette release of the Freya album has proved to be a great success. On the one hand, the top-of-the-range Nakamichi unit provided by Attila Zeke (Dream Audio Components), like the Studer B67 tape recorder, attracted visitors to listen in.
The cassette, reproduced by RTM in France on tape manufactured by them, sounded surprisingly good, so we bravely dared to present CD and LP versions with it.

The third main feature was the collaboration between Djabe and Steve Hackett. Although many people are familiar with the Djabe – Steve Hackett collaboration, they still marvel at our joint recordings and the rich selection of albums released under the Djabe & Steve Hackett name at every international exhibition. Of course, the Freya – Arctic Jam album, released in February, was the most popular, but many people also listened to the album Carpet Crawlers.

The audio cassette release of the Freya album has proved to be a great success. On the one hand, the top-of-the-range Nakamichi unit provided by Attila Zeke (Dream Audio Components), like the Studer B67 tape recorder, attracted visitors to listen in.
The cassette, reproduced by RTM in France on tape manufactured by them, sounded surprisingly good, so we bravely dared to present CD and LP versions with it.

Even in the four days available, it is impossible to visit such a huge exhibition without being able to hear about the system or see the products and services offered by the exhibitor at each stand and in each exhibition area. So it is no wonder that I saw very little of the exhibition, as I spent all my time at our own stand. What I did manage to see was mostly in the hour before opening. However, I did have the opportunity to make a few targeted visits. Last year, the Revox master tape series releases included the Djabe & Steve Hackett – Back To Győr album, which marked a successful start to the collaboration between the long-running producer and Djabe. The next release will be out soon and we will work more closely together. We’re about to make a big move… As soon as details become public, we’ll report back.

Attila Égerházi