Audio Products Podcast

Our guest is Ross Totino — Product Developer, Sound Designer, and expert in audio hardware and DSP systems who worked on many iconic products we love. In this episode, we talk about: ✅ How to build a career in hardware product developmentRoss shares how he moved from technician roles into sound design and product development in Electro-Harmonix and Line 6 and how those helped me to further work with iconic brands Eventide Audio. ✅ How analog gear is modelled in the digital worldWe explore DSP modeling, perception vs. accuracy, and how developers recreate character — not just circuits. ✅ Why Silicon Valley VC capitalist mentality severely impacted the economy and the music industryCan we get away from the totally software-focused, short-term profit-seeking, fake it ’til you make it” approach? ✅ The state of the industry today“𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦… 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺’𝘴 𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳.” ➡️ Join our Discord https://discord.com/invite/jd6Fgv5XTR ➡️ Sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming events https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr Ross's band ➡️ Fans of Collision Bandcamp: https://fansofcollision.bandcamp.com/ ➡️ Fans of Collision Sounds on Gumroad: https://rtotino.gumroad.com/ Products Ross worked on: ➡️ EHX Holy Grail: https://youtu.be/tCXxuyu_N8g?si=6hLGibQaBsvERIsK ➡️ Line 6 ToneCore: https://youtu.be/SKWbT6gbFeM?si=QpB8A7UFd40zMYHm ➡️ Umlaut Audio: https://youtu.be/Vc8nwi5Attk?si=3atLHm7XFCzhBJ28 The other mentioned gear ➡️ Media Overkill: https://mok.com/ ➡️ Twisted-Electrons: https://www.twistedelectrons.com/megafm ➡️ Kawai K5000s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawai_K5000 ➡️ Korg DSS-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korg_DSS-1

🎮 How do you actually start a career in game audio?We talked about it with Krzysiek Kowal — Audio & Motion Department Manager at Anshar Studios and former Sound Designer at CD PROJEKT RED.Game audio is one of the most fascinating intersections of sound design, technology and interactive storytelling — but entering the industry can feel hard, especially today.In this episode, we talk about:✅ How Krzysiek started his career in game audioFrom early sound design work to working on professional game productions and eventually managing audio teams.✅ Process of implementing SFX and music in gamesWhat are the steps, people and teams involved, what are the roles in the game audio team✅ Tools and technology behind game audioGame engines, middleware like Audiokinetic's Wwise or FMOD, custom scripting tools, recording setups and the production pipelines used by professional studios.✅ The current state of the game industryMajor players, current challenges and what innovations are shaping the future of interactive audio.If you're a sound designer, audio student or an audio developer or someone curious about game audio careers, this episode gives a practical introduction to how the field actually works.👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to Audio Products Podcast ➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast ➡️ Join our Discord https://discord.com/invite/jd6Fgv5XTR ➡️ Sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming events https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr

Our guest is Maciej Bąk — a Senior IT Project & Program Manager with 16+ years of experience, currently at Neural DSP and previously on the Avid Pro Tools team.Maciek has delivered hundreds of audio projects. He is also a very active musician and mix engineer, which gives him a rare perspective on both industry and user sides of audio.In this episode, we talk about: ✅ Why audio delivery is different from SaaS✅ Projects vs Programs — and why audio companies need both✅ How poor delivery can kill a great audio product✅ Managing DSP, hardware, firmware and UX dependencies✅ Agile vs Waterfall in audio development✅ What competencies are missing in audio PMs✅ How AI will change program management in audio✅ What project management do startups need If you are a Founder scaling your company, Head of Product or Product Manager and Program Manager or Scrum Master - this episode is a practical deep dive into what it really means to deliver audio products, not just think about them ➡️ Maciek’s music channel https://www.youtube.com/@bak_songs ➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast ➡️ Join our Discord https://discord.com/invite/jd6Fgv5XTR ➡️ Sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming events https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr

Our guest is Diana Monroy-García, founder of MC Media who is an expert in digital asset management and media production. Her expertise encompasses audiovisual collections research and management, copyright clearance, sync licensing, and comprehensive library and metadata management. Her focus is on improving rights information management within the digital ecosystem, particularly through the development of innovative technology.In this episode, we talk with Diana about:✅ why metadata is the foundation of music distribution and licensing✅ the most common (and costly) metadata mistakes artists and producers make✅ how poor data management leads to lost royalties✅ how standards like ISRC, ISWC, ISNI, UPC and DDEX shape the music ecosystem✅ what product teams need to understand before building tools for the music industry ➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast ➡️ Join our Discord https://discord.com/invite/jd6Fgv5XTR ➡️ Sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming events https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr ➡️ NoiseWork DynAssist https://noiseworksaudio.com/?ref=wojciech Recommended by Diana: ➡️ MCs newsletter access where we'll drop the early access to our Embedding Up tool: https://mcmediadk.gumroad.com/ ➡️ A compilation of useful general resources about music: the market, rights, and others: https://www.ifpi.org/resources/ ➡️ If you're an artist who wants to get an ISRC code for your music without going through a distributor or your country's rights organisation: https://isrc.ifpi.org/get-isrc/assign-isrc-online ➡️ The best practices compilation from DDEX standards: https://kb.ddex.net/implementing-each-standard/best-practices-for-all-ddex-standards/ ➡️ A good citizen took the DDEX standards and turned them into a fully readable/workable library for development (strongly recommend going to the examples section): https://ddex-suite.org/docs/intro #audioproductspodcast #musictech #metadata #musicindustry #datastandards #ISRC #DDEX #productmanagement #audioPM

This time we look back at 2025 — through the voices of the people who shaped it. From indie plugin developers and AI startups, to UX leads, hardware PMs and R&D heads at companies like Roland, Universal Audio, Safari Audio and d&b audiotechnik — 2025 gave us 15 deep conversations about what it really takes to build audio tools that matter.In this solo episode, Wojciech reflects on:• What builders, designers and founders taught us about careers, workflows and innovation• Recurring themes across companies of all sizes – from Beatport to Pro Sound Effects• The hidden skills and rituals that make audio products succeed (or fail)• Trends in AI, sound design, UX and product culture that emerged from the year• What we’re launching next and how you can be part of itIf you're working in or around audio — or building tools for those who do — this wrap-up is for you.Thanks for being with us this year! 🙏 ➡️ Join our course AI-Augmented PM https://aipm.rokanan.com/ Other links ➡️ Join our Discord https://discord.com/invite/jd6Fgv5XTR ➡️ Sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming events https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr ➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast ➡️ Check out our Meetups in Berlin for audio product leaders https://audioproductjam2.eventbrite.com About Wavelab Incubator ➡️ https://www.wavelab.io/en/startups-2/ Teresa Torres: Continuous Discovery Habits ➡️ https://www.amazon.com/Continuous-Discovery-Habits-Discover-Products/dp/1736633309

We met Andrew Cresswell, Head of Product Sales at ICEpower A/S.➡️ Join our Discord:https://discord.com/invite/jd6Fgv5XTR➡️ Sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming event dates:https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr ➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content:https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast➡️ How to get from start-up to scale-uphttps://organizationalphysics.com/2015/10/15/rethinking-product-management-how-to-get-from-start-up-to-scale-up/ ➡️ Audio Product Portfolio Management course https://rokanan.com/2025/12/17/audio-product-portfolio-management-2/ #audioPM #musictech #proaudio #scaleup #productportfolio

We have met in Berlin with Gösta Wellmer to discuss product design culture, hardware product management and more! Gösta is a design and product leader with 15+ years of executive experience driving innovation in the music technology industry. He is a former Director of Design at Native Instruments and a former CEO Elektron ➡️ Join our Discord https://discord.com/invite/jd6Fgv5XTR ➡️ sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming event dates -https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr ➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast ➡️ Connect with Gösta https://www.linkedin.com/in/goesta-wellmer/ ➡️ Check out our Meetups in Berlin for audio product leaders https://audioproductjam2.eventbrite.com

In this episode we met Tzipi Schindler, who is grateful to have found a home in the music software industry for the past seven years as a product manager at Native Instruments, starting with Native Access and from there on to the release pipeline. She considers herself a hope-driven product manager and we will hear more about why that is. We have discussed culture, diversity and how to build teams where people feel they belong.Tzipi will also be a speaker at our upcoming Berlin meetup, Audio Product Jam so if you would like to listen more about her experience, you must pop in! More info herehttps://lnkd.in/dCbxkX58 Resources from the episode Books: Brown, B. (2010) The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. Hazelden. Ozenc, K. And Glenn Fajardo (2021) Rituals for Virtual Meetings: Creative Ways to Engage People and Strengthen Relationships. Wiley. Shafak, E. (2020) How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division. Profile Books. Rosenberg, M.B. (2015) Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. PuddleDancer Press. Articles: Circles of Influence Retrospective Format: https://www.dianalarsen.com/blog/2010/07/26/circles-and-soup/ 5 Whys Sprint Retrospective Format: https://www.scrum.org/resources/blog/agile-coach-toolkit-1-5-whys Music: Streisand, Barbra. “Avinu Malkeinu”. Higher Ground. Columbia Records. YouTube. 1997. More links ➡️ sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming event dates https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr ➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast ➡️ Read Audio Products Blog https://rokanan.com/blog/ Podcast edited with DynAssist.

We met with Moritz Surwehme, the co-founder of NoiseWorks, the company behind vocal editing plugins like DynAssist that have already gained recognition in the industry and have been called by some the best product of the Supebooth 2025He shares the story behind the founding of NoiseWork and the building of their flagship products.Moritz started off developing audio plugins for his bachelor's thesis at SAE Bochum, where he met Ilan - his business partner. After falling in love with C++, JUCE, Figma and DSP, he is turning all the ideas in his head into plugins, step by step. ➡️ Try DynAssist (affiliate link, you buy and support the podcast): https://noiseworksaudio.com/?ref=wojciech ➡️ Watch DynAssist tutorial https://youtu.be/UgRQkp2NSSU?si=1cPz1wb_XGhe-Pav ➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast

We met with Paul McCabe who is the Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation at Roland Future Design Lab - a global R&D team of engineers and researchers focused on exploring and harnessing emerging trends, fostering innovation, and helping to shape the global creative landscape for the next 50 years. ➡️ sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming event dates -https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr ➡️ Support our podcast and get premium content https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast ➡️ Join our Discord https://lnkd.in/dCCFsgyr Podcast edited with DynAssist

We met Rodrigo Ibieta who is the Director of Hardware Product Management for Universal Audio Rodrigo Ibieta has spent his entire career within the musical instruments and audio sectors. He is currently the Director of Product Management for Universal Audio’s hardware line, which includes Apollo and Volt audio interfaces, UAFX pedals, microphones, and more. He has previously worked for Apple, Beats, Fender, and Guitar Center in Product Management and Sales roles. He has been writing and recording songs for 20 years as a multi-instrumentalist player. We discussed why a product career is a great option for musicians, mixing engineers and engineering students and what it is like to be a product guy in a famous company like UA. ➡️ sign up to our newsletter for audio job openings, articles and upcoming event dates - https://tinyurl.com/ywjxwszr ➡️ Join our Discord https://lnkd.in/dCCFsgyr Subscribe to our YouTube Channel ➡️ https://www.youtube.com/@AudioProductsPodcast Become our Supporter and get premium content ➡️ https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast Podcast edited with DynAssist

We met Max Shafer, co-founder and CEO of Just 4 Noise, an AI startup that empowers music producers to generate a range of unique, one-shot samples from a simple line of text. Max is a Berlin-based musician and DJ who worked as an AI-oriented product manager in various sectors before starting a company. During the live show, Max shared his experience of starting an AI company in the music industry and dive into how his previous PM career helped with the entrepreneurial journey in this field. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel ➡️ https://www.youtube.com/@AudioProductsPodcast Audio PM Discord server ➡️ https://discord.com/invite/jd6Fgv5XTR Become our Supporter and get premium content ➡️ https://buymeacoffee.com/audiopodcast Podcast edited with DynAssist