Tír Na HiFi

Is anybody planning to attend the event in May this year (May 19-22)?

I am deliberating whether I will travel. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is bad enough but with the latest Omicron variant now doing the rounds, it seems that the circumstances are less than ideal. I heard Professor Like O'Neill saying on the radio last week that everybody will get this new COVID variant eventually such is the ease with which it transmits itself from person to person. If you are fully vaccinated though and you become infected it is unlikely that you will become very sick, but I would hate to have to quarantine in Germany for 7 days! I wonder too if the war in Ukraine and a resurgent COVID strain affect the international attendance, particularly from the U.S.A.?

Any thoughts?

Travel already booked and just awaiting the release of the ticket sales next week.
Not worried about any impact of the Ukraine Invasion on travel to Germany and I expect a deal will be reached before then.

My only concern is regards Covid restrictions and how governments respond in the next month, If they let the current surge in infections play out without further restrictions then we should be in a good place by the end of May.
As you say the latest Omicron variant BA.2 is very transmissible and we all will get exposed to it one way or another, I am not concerned about getting it since the natural immunity gained from Omicron is many times greater and longer lasting compared to any further booster shots.

Fingers crossed we are in a good place in May as regards Covid and we can finally enjoy what should be a good show.

A better source of good info on Covid than Luke O'Neil is John Campbell in my view.
https://youtu.be/YoDvuu9oOzg

Flights and accommodation booked some time ago on the chance it would all work out. Hopefully we can get tickets next week now. Beware that the show will only be open to the public on sat and sunday as far as I can work out, but I think the other show might be open on the friday, and there are those record shops in Munich you told us about before Satrus....

I booked yesterday as well. I really couldn't 'suffer' a third year without exposure to the latest developments in the high performance audio industry. 2020 and 2021 couldn't be helped but the show is definitely going ahead this year, touch wood!. I think by mid May the COVID situation should have calmed down so hopefully any risk will be small. Some of the record store details have changed though. It seems that Der Schallplattenladen is no longer at Parisier Strasse close to the Ostbahnhof Station. Stefan, the owner, has moved to a new location here: -

Der Schallplattenladen
Hienlohe str. 24
83624 Otterfing
Germany
phone : +49(0) 172 28 12 351
Website :www.derschallplattenladen.com
Email: schallplattenladen@gmx.de

Access to the store is not too difficult. You would need to take the S3 train to Otterfing Station. This store is well worth visiting if you like the audiophile reissue titles from Mobile, Analogue Productions/Acoustic Sounds, Speakers Corner, Pure Pleasure etc. Stefan says that an advance call is advisable, though. As you will see from the website, the store is still affected by COVID restrictions. That is a pity because the store at Parisier Strasse was a really well stocked walk in and browse store.

Schallplattenzentrale appears to be closed at the moment, presumably again due to COVID, which is a pity. They have 2 stores and are always worth visiting, but they are only operating via Discogs at the moment. There are still plenty of record stores to visit regardless. Da Capo Records will probably be at the show as well as an assortment of other vinyl and CD/SACD vendors.

I think all of the others are operating normally but if I discover otherwise I will post the information here.

Ticket sales opened today @Satrus.....

We are getting closer to this event now.....

They recently issued new tickets that include public transport on the day of the show, this is very handy.

A few of us could meet up during the show if you are going Satrus. I know there are 4 of us going.

The change this year is that hi-end is only open to the public on Saturday and Sunday. There is a new show (hifideluxe.de) nearby that is open all of the days and seems to be free entry for anyone there on Friday.

I am flying to Munich on Tuesday next, 17th May on the 7.15am flight out of Dublin. I am attending on Thursday and Friday only, i.e. the trade days. I am hoping to get some record shopping in on Tuesday and Wednesday. In previous years, one ticket covered trade visitors for all four days but there has been a change this year due no doubt to the fact that there has been no show since 2019. There will be some notable absences this year. SME isn't among the list of brands and Richard Vandersteen who has been a fixture since I started going to Munich in 2006 won't be there either, to name two. COVID fallout, most likely? I haven't looked into the other show but it seems interesting.

If anybody has the time and intends to do a tour of the record stores, purchasing an Isarcard at the airport is a good idea. It costs something in the region of €35 or so depending on the length of your stay but it gives you access to all the U-Bahn and S-Bahn trains and buses etc. The price includes your ticket from the airport to the city centre and a return ticket from the city to the airport when you are flying back. You get three tickets. It is particularly worth getting if you want to do some shopping and you can get excellent value from it. Another thing that is worthwhile is to download the Munich MVV App to your phone which will tell you the trains to get to travel to your destination, record stores too of course if you know the station that is nearest the store in question. I only have this since 2019 and believe me it has shortened my journeys dramatically. I was taking the long around in very many cases prior to getting the app. I think this is it https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/journey- ... index.html.

Let me know when everybody is traveling and perhaps we can all meet up?

As far as I know, of the 4 people travelling, one is thursday evening, 2 are friday morning (incl me) and one is friday evening.

Doesn't look great for meeting up if you are gone on Friday unfortunately....

I was thinking about the record stores, but given I am only getting in there on Friday, I think I will go to the deluxe show on Friday rather than tour around the city. Chances are if I want to pick up some particular release (rather than crate digging) then I will get it at the show, assuming the usual sellers are there.

I was wondering how much the show will have shrunk this year, hopefully not too much. You'd have to expect some reduction given that 2 year gap, but hopefully it will be OK.

I'm actually in Munich until Sunday morning. I am taking the 11.30 Aer Lingus flight back to Dublin on Sunday (22nd May). I am meeting up with a cousin of mine who lives in the city on Saturday for a get together. I'll be at the M.O.C. all day Thursday and Friday ... unless I get bored! There will be Record sellers at either show for sure. Sieveking Sound (www.sieveking-sound.de) is the Germany importer for Mobile Fidelity and many other audiophile labels. They always have plenty of records for sale. Da Capo Records (from Furth) have been at the show every year since 2006 but curiously seem to be absent this year? They carry all the audiophile labels too and non audiophile vinyl as well. Last time I was there (2019) there was a seller from Berlin with lots of used Japanese pressings. There were a few decent titles there but many were titles that wouldn't interest most of us, I think. There will be other sellers too and they are always on the ground floor. From memory, the ground floor is spread over 3 Halles. Manufacturers who have static displays are in this section while the upper floors are populated by manufacturers who put on some quite lavish demonstrations with equipment that 99% of us can only dream of ever owning.

The trouble with Germany is the very limited hours of business, even pre COVID. The M2 used record store opens from 3pm to 6pm on week days, except Monday and from 11am to 2pm on Saturday.. They are closed on Mondays and it seems most stores close early on Saturdays. Optimal which is down near Frauenhoferstrasse opens at 11am in the morning until 8pm in the evening. Mono opens from 3pm to 8pm. Ludwig Beck is a large department store down adjacent to Marienplatz station in the city. It has a decent record department on the top floor (5th from memory) and its hours are normal. Similarly, Saturn which has a nice music department in the basement. It is down at the end of Neuhauser Strasse and like Ludwig Beck is open until 8pm each evening. Sunday is a disaster for shoppers in Germany, everything is closed! Luckily Ascension Day doesn't fall during next week. It's a Catholic Holy day of obligation and everything is closed. This year it falls on Thursday 26th May so we'll miss that, luckily.

All good Satrus, plenty there to scratch the audiophile itch!!

If you want to pm me a phone number, I can whatsapp you etc on Saturday, maybe if you're free we could all meet up for a beverage or two that evening?