Real-Time Hi-Fi Platform – Musical Instrument Hardware

Polaro is building a reference-grade embedded audio platform for a next-generation digital instrument.

We are hiring a senior engineer who  owns the real-time audio stack end-to-end .

Owning:

• Design and ship a deterministic, low-latency audio engine across:

Linux (x86)

RTOS-based MCU (qualcomm or NXP i.MX RT class)

• Implement full signal path:

Synthesis → DSP → routing → buffering → DAC → amplifier

• Guarantee:

Zero underruns, pops, drift

Stable clocking and synchronization

Predictable latency under system load

• Work directly with hardware:

I2S / TDM

DMA / interrupts

Clock topology

ADC/DAC integration

• Correlate measurement (FFT, impulse response, THD, jitter) with perceived sound quality

You are responsible for how the instrument actually sounds and behaves in real time.

Required skills (must have)

• 8+ years in embedded systems
• Strong C/C++ in production firmware
• Hands on Linux x86
• Deep real-time systems knowledge:

Interrupts, DMA, lock-free buffers

ISR vs task context

Deterministic scheduling

• Hands on Experience with:

RTOS (FreeRTOS, Zephyr, similar)

Embedded Linux audio (ALSA, JACK, PipeWire or custom engines)

• Hands-on DSP implementation in C/C++
• Experience shipping audio hardware

You must care about transient response, phase coherence, headroom, and latency — and know how to implement them in firmware.

This role is about shipping a world-class embedded audio system.