Doepfer
company
Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH is a German manufacturer of audio hardware, mostly modular synthesizers, based in Gräfelfing, Upper Bavaria, Germany and founded by Dieter Döpfer. The product range covers analog modular systems, MIDI controllers, MIDI hardware sequencers, MIDI-to-CV/Gate/Sync Interfaces, MIDI master keyboards and special MIDI equipment.
Dieter Döpfer began developing audio hardware with a Voltage Controlled Phaser module for the Formant, a do-it-yourself-kit analog synthesizer from Elektor magazine in 1977. Several legendary modular synths followed while Döpfer also focused on the development of MIDI equipment during the 1980s.
In 1992, Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH released the MIDI analog sequencer MAQ16/3 which was designed in cooperation with Kraftwerk. In the beginning, the company had direct sales and interested musicians would receive a demonstration by visiting other customers since the modular systems were deemed too difficult for typical music shop employees to demonstrate. Facing greater publicity, Doepfer shifted the distribution to specialized points of sales.
Product History
1979 Voltage controlled phaser module for the German Formant modular synthesizer
1980 PMS Polyphonic modular system (quad-modules, like quad-VCO, quad-VCF...)
1982 Voice modular system (one synthesizer voice with 2 VCOs, 2ADSR, 1VCF, 1VCA on one board 100x160mm, designed with CEM chips from Doug Curtis/USA)
1984 Sound Sampler (8 bit voltage controlled sampler with interface and sampling software for Commodore 64)
1985 Loop option, compander and synthesis software for sound sampler (FM, Fourier, Waveshaping and so on)
1986 MCV1 MIDI-to-CV interface (first version)
1987 CCM Computer-controlled audio mixing console with computer-controlled faders (VCAs) and filters (VCFs), interface and software for Commodore 64 and Atari ST
1989
LMK1 simple MIDI master keyboard
MMK2 MIDI keyboard (e.g. used by Kraftwerk live for the Pocket Calculator song)
MKC1/2 MIDI master keyboard controller (for combination with LMK1)
1990
LMK3 MIDI master keyboard with piano touch simulation
LMK1V2 MIDI master keyboard (improved version of LMK1)
SX-16 16 voice MIDI expander
MBP1 MIDI Bass pedal
DMC-8 Drum to MIDI converter
MONA universal MIDI out interface
1991
K2B 2 manual MIDI keyboard
MPC128 MIDI program change unit
MTG128 MIDI-to-Gate interface with up to 128 Gate outputs controlled via MIDI
MTS128 MIDI-to-Switch interface with up to 128 MIDI controlled electronic switches (e.g. as MIDI-In interface for any non-MIDI-keyboard)
1992
LMK1+/LMK2+/LMK4+ MIDI master keyboard series with real hammer mechanics
GMX-1 GM compatible MIDI expander
MAQ16/3 MIDI analog sequencer (designed in cooperation with Kraftwerk)
1993
MIDIM8 MIDI controller dimmer pack with 8 power outputs
MTP8 MIDI switch-pack with 8 power outputs
MVP1 MIDI volume foot controller
1994
LMK4+ MIDI master keyboard top model
MOGLI MIDI glove
MEG universal MIDI event generator
MTR128 MIDI to relays interface to control up to 128 relays via MIDI note on/off
MSY1 MIDI-to-SYNC interface
1995
MS-404 monophonic analog MIDI synthesizer
TMK2 2 manual MIDI master keyboard
A-100 analog modular system
1997
Schaltwerk MIDI pattern sequencer
MCV4 MIDI-to-CV interface
MSY2 MIDI-to-SYNC interface
1998
Regelwerk MIDI fader box and pattern/analog sequencer
PK88 MIDI Keyboard (control keyboard especially for piano expanders)
MCV24 MIDI-to-CV/Gate interface (24 CV/Gate outputs)
c.1999 Drehbank MIDI controller
c.2000 Pocket Control MIDI controller
2006
Thru-Zero Quadrature VCO
30/60dB Switched Capacitor Filter
A-100 Keyboard/Sequencer
2010 Dark Energy Mono Synth
2011 Dark Time Analog Sequencer
2012 Dark Energy II Mono Synth
References
External links
Doepfer Home Page
Sound on Sound review of Doepfer system, July 1998, by Chris Carter of Throbbing Gristle, archived from the original.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Doepfer” is company. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Doepfer and company, not as a finished interpretation.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q475912. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1977, 1992, 1979 and 1980.
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