Audio and the C++ Standard with Timur Doumler | WolfTalk #031

C++ Standards Committee member, ex-Native Instruments, ex-JUCE, ex-JetBrains, oh my!

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Introduction

How do you become a C++ Standards Committee member?

Why is C++ prevalent in audio?

Should you still use it for audio software?

Honestly, Timur Doumler is someone I have looked up to ever since I saw his “C++ in the audio industry” talk at CppCon 2015.

He has a rich development history with C++ and/or audio:

developer at Native Instruments
developer of the JUCE C++ framework (podcast sponsor ❤️)
C++ linter developer and developer advocate at JetBrains (who make the CLion IDE)
founder of Cradle, an audio plugin startup
C++ Standards Committee member
CppCast podcast host
notorious Audio Developer Conference and CppCon speaker

I have probably missed a ton of stuff here, but that should already give you a flavor of what Timur is up to 😉

I especially enjoy his technical talks on synchronization with the (real-time) audio thread; For example, at the Audio Developer Conference 2025, he made me finally understand memory ordering in C++ (or so I believe 😅)

In the podcast interview, we discuss his story, tactics, and tips, which I hope will inspire you to follow his footsteps (as they sure did me).

It also turns out we are both fond of the same music band… Listen to the interview to find out which one 😁

All in all, this one of my favorite podcast episodes (audio & C++, what more do you need?), so don’t miss it!

Note: If you like the podcast so far, please, go to Apple Podcasts and leave me a review there. You can do so on Spotify as well. It will benefit both sides: more reviews mean a broader reach on Apple Podcasts and feedback can help me to improve the show and provide better quality content to you. You can also subscribe and give a like on YouTube. Thank you for doing this 🙏

Episode Contents

From this episode, you will learn:

How Timur’s early interests and experiences led him toward audio programming
His early engineering work at Native Instruments, including contributions to Kontakt and NI’s internal C++ libraries
How he joined ROLI and worked on the development of JUCE
The story behind founding Cradle
How he became involved in the ISO C++ Standards Committee including his audio-related contributions
What he’s most excited for in the upcoming C++26 standard
How he approaches software development and maintaining a healthy work-life balance (that was a great one to learn for me personally, too)

This episode was recorded on September 26, 2025.