Doepfer

Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH is a German manufacturer of audio hardware, mostly modular synthesizers, based in Gräfelfing, Upper Bavaria, Germany and founded by Dieter Döpfer.

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.

Facing greater publicity, Doepfer shifted the distribution to specialized points of sales.