The Doepfer A-100 is an

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

modular synthesizer Modular synthesizers are synthesizers composed of separate modules for different functions. The modules can be connected together by the user to create a patch. The outputs from the modules may include audio signals, analog control voltages, o ...

system introduced by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

audio manufacturer

Doepfer Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH is a German manufacturer of audio hardware, mostly synthesizer modules (modular synthesizer), based in Gräfelfing, Upper Bavaria and founded by Dieter Döpfer. The product range covers analog modular systems, MIDI con ...

in 1995. Although only 10 module types were at time of release, it currently has more than 120 modules plus several different enclosures and accessories.

Design

A-100 modules are designed to be rackmounted, each being 3U tall and a multiple of 2HP wide, and a variety of cases are available to house them. This type of racking system,

Eurorack Eurorack is a modular synthesizer format originally specified in 1995 by Doepfer Musikelektronik. It has since grown in popularity, and as of 2022 has become a dominant hardware modular synthesizer format, with over 15,000 modules available from ...

, has been adopted by many other manufacturers of synthesiser modules. Modules are patched using standard mono miniature (3.5 mm) leads. This combination of 3U height, multiples of 2HP width, and 3.5 mm leads is known more generally as the Eurorack standard, and is in contrast to the older combination of 5U height and 6.35 mm width pioneered by Moog. Other companies such as Analogue Solutions, Analogue Systems,

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

, Moog and Cwejman have also adopted the Eurorack standard, making it relatively easy to integrate their modules into each other's systems.

Example uses

Using certain modules designed specifically for the purpose, it is possible to use the A-100 system to emulate a

Trautonium The Trautonium is an electronic synthesizer invented in 1930 by Friedrich Trautwein in Berlin at the Musikhochschule's music and radio lab, the Rundfunkversuchstelle. Soon afterwards Oskar Sala joined him, continuing development until Sala's de ...

or a

Theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

, as well as to use it as a

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

Modules

The following modules have been, or are still being, manufactured by Doepfer: * A-101-1 – Vactrol multimode filter * A-101-2 – Vactrol low-pass filter / VCA * A-101-3 – 12 stage vactrol phaser * A-101-6 – Six Stage Opto FET VCF * A-101-9 – Dual universal vactrol module * A-102 –

EMS VCS 3 The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS released ...

style 18 dB/octave diode low-pass filter * A-103 –

Roland TB-303 The Roland TB-303 Bass Line (also known as the 303) is a bass synthesizer released by Roland Corporation in 1981. Designed to simulate bass guitars, it was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. However, cheap second-hand units were ...

style 18 dB/octave transistor ladder low-pass filter * A-104 –

style formant filter * A-105 – 24 dB/octave SSM2044 based 24 dB/octave low-pass filter * A-105-4 – Quad Poly VCF * A-106-1 –

Korg MS-20 The Korg MS-20 is a patchable semi-modular monophonic analog synthesizer which Korg released in 1978 and which was in production until 1983. It was part of Korg's MS series of instruments, which also included the single oscillator MS-10, the ke ...

style 12 dB/octave low-pass / 6 dB/octave high-pass filter * A-106-5 –

Oberheim SEM Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim. History and products Tom Oberheim founded the company in 1969, originally as a designer and contract manufacturer of electronic effects devices for Maestro (mos ...

style 12 dB/octave multimode filter * A-106-6 –

Oberheim Xpander The Oberheim Xpander () is an analog synthesizer launched by Oberheim in 1984 and discontinued in 1988. It is essentially a keyboardless, six-voice version of the Matrix-12 (released a year later, in 1985). Utilizing Oberheim's Matrix Modulation ...

style multimode filter * A-107 –

style multimode filter * A-108 – 6, 12, 24, and 48 dB/octave low-pass / band-pass transistor ladder filter * A-109 – Signal processor * A-110-1 – Standard VCO * A-110-2 – Basic VCO * A-110-4 – Thru zero quadrature VCO * A-110-6 – Trapezoid Thru Zero Quadrature VCO * A-111-1 – High end VCO * A-111-2 – High End VCO II / VCLFO * A-111-3 – Micro Precision VCO / VCLFO * A-111-4 – Quad Precision VCO * A-111-5 – Mini synthesizer voice (combination VCO / filter / VCA / LFO / ADSR envelope generator) * A-112 – Sampler / wavetable oscillator * A-113 – Trautonium style subharmonic generator * A-114 – Dual

ring modulator In electronics, ring modulation is a signal processing function, an implementation of frequency mixing, in which two signals are combined to yield an output signal. One signal, called the carrier, is typically a sine wave or another simple w ...

* A-115 – Audio divider * A-116 –

Waveform In electronics, acoustics, and related fields, the waveform of a signal is the shape of its graph as a function of time, independent of its time and magnitude scales and of any displacement in time.David Crecraft, David Gorham, ''Electronic ...

processor * A-117 – Digital noise generator /

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patte ...

style discordant sound source * A-118 – Analog

noise generator A noise generator is a circuit that produces electrical noise (i.e., a random signal). Noise generators are used to test signals for measuring noise figure, frequency response, and other parameters. Noise generators are also used for generating ...

/ random voltage * A-118-2 – Analog

/ random voltage (Slim Line Series) * A-119 – External input / envelope follower * A-120 – Moog style 24 dB/octave low-pass filter * A-121 – 12 dB/octave multimode filter * A-121-2 – 12 dB Multimode Filter * A-122 –

Oberheim Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim. History and products Tom Oberheim founded the company in 1969, originally as a designer and contract manufacturer of electronic effects devices for Maestro (most ...

style 24 dB/octave low-pass filter with CEM 3379 chip * A-123 – 24 dB/octave high-pass filter * A-123-2 – 6/12/18/24 dB Highpass Filter * A-124 –

EDP Wasp Electronic Dream Plant (EDP) was a small British synthesizer manufacturer, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the time their products were not particularly successful commercially. In later years products like the "WASP" became prized ...

style 12 dB/octave multimode filter * A-125 – Phaser * A-126 – Frequency shifter * A-127 – Triple resonance filter * A-127BOM – Filter breakout module * A-128 – Fixed filter bank * A-129/1 –

Vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''voice'' and ''encoder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder was ...

analysis * A-129/2 – Vocoder synthesis * A-129/3 – Vocoder slew limiter * A-129/4 – Slew limiter controller * A-129/5 – Voiced/unvoiced detector * A-130 – Linear VCA * A-131 – Exponential VCA * A-132-1 – Dual linear low cost VCA * A-132-2 – Quad VCA * A-132-3 – Dual linear / exponential VCA * A-132-4 – Quad exponential VCA / mixer * A-132-8 – Octal Poly VCA * A-133 – Dual polarizer * A-134-1 – Panner * A-134-2 – Dual crossfader * A-135 – Mixer * A-135-2 – Quad VCA / Mixer * A-136 – Distortion /

waveshaper In electronic music, waveshaping is a type of distortion synthesis in which complex spectra are produced from simple tones by altering the shape of the waveforms. Uses Waveshapers are used mainly by electronic musicians to achieve an extra-a ...

* A-137-1 – Wave multiplier I * A-137-2 – Wave multiplier II * A-138a – Linear mixer * A-138b – Exponential mixer * A-138c – Polarizing mixer * A-138d – Crossfader /

effect Effect may refer to: * A result or change of something ** List of effects ** Cause and effect, an idiom describing causality Pharmacy and pharmacology * Drug effect, a change resulting from the administration of a drug ** Therapeutic effect, a ...

insert * A-138e – Quad three-way crossfader / mixer / polarizer * A-138m – 4x4 Matrix Mixer * A-138o – Performance Mixer Output Module * A-138p – Performance Mixer * A-138s – Mini Stereo Mixer * A-138u – Dual Micro Mixer (2x3) * A-138x – Mixer expander (for use with A-138a or A-138b) * A-139 –

Headphone Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an au ...

amplifier * A-139-2 – Headphone Amplifier * A-140 –

ADSR envelope ADSR may refer to: * ADSR envelope (attack decay sustain release), a common type of music envelope * Accelerator-driven sub-critical reactor, a nuclear reactor using a particle accelerator to generate a fission reaction in a sub-critical assembly ...

generator * A-140-2 – Dual Mini ADSR * A-141 – Voltage controlled ADSR envelope generator * A-141-2 – Voltage controlled ADSR / LFO * A-141-4 – Quad Poly VCADSR * A-142-1 – Decay envelope generator / gate * A-142-2 – Dual Envelope Controlled VCA * A-142-4 – Quad Decay * A-143-1 – Complex envelope generator / quad AD envelope generator / quad LFO * A-143-2 – Quad ADSR envelope generator * A-143-3 – Quad LFO * A-143-4 – Quad voltage controlled LFO / VCO * A-143-9 – Quadrature LFO * A-144 – Morphing controller * A-145 – LFO I * A-146 – LFO II * A-147 – Voltage controlled LFO * A-147-2 – Voltage Controlled Delayed Low Frequency Oscillator / VCDLFO * A-148 – Dual

sample and hold In electronics, a sample and hold (also known as sample and follow) circuit is an analog device that samples (captures, takes) the voltage of a continuously varying analog signal and holds (locks, freezes) its value at a constant level for a ...

/ track and hold * A-149-1 –

Buchla 200 Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments (BEMI) was a manufacturer of synthesizers and unique MIDI controllers. The origins of the company could be found in Buchla & Associates, created in 1963 by synthesizer pioneer Don Buchla of Berkeley, Californ ...

style quantized random voltages / stored random voltages * A-149-2 – Eight digital random voltages * A-150 – Dual voltage controlled switch * A-150-8 – Octal Manual/Voltage Controlled Programmable Switches * A-151 – Quad sequential switch * A-152 – Addressed track and hold / analog shift register / octal switch (multiplexer) * A-154 – Sequencer controller * A-155 – Analog / trigger sequencer * A-156 – Dual quantizer * A-157 – Trigger Sequencer Subsystem * A-160 – Clock divider * A-160-2 – Clock/Trigger Divider II * A-160-5 – Voltage Controlled Clock Multiplier / Ratcheting Controller * A-161 – Clock sequencer * A-162 – Dual trigger delay * A-163 – Frequency divider * A-164-1 – Manual gate * A-165 – Dual trigger inverter * A-166 – Dual

logic gate A logic gate is an idealized or physical device implementing a Boolean function, a logical operation performed on one or more binary inputs that produces a single binary output. Depending on the context, the term may refer to an ideal logic gate, ...

* A-167 – Analog comparator / subtractor / offset generator * A-168-1 – PWM Module * A-170 – Dual slew limiter * A-171 – Voltage controlled slew limiter * A-171-2 – Voltage controlled slew processor / generator * A-172 – Maximum / minimum selector * A-173-1/2 – Micro Keyboard / Manual Gate Modules * A-174-1 –

Joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...

* A-174-2 – Wheels * A-175 – Dual voltage inverter * A-176 – Manual control voltage source * A-177-1 – Foot controller I * A-177-2 – Foot controller II * A-178 –

style antenna * A-179 – Light controlled voltage source * A-180-1 – Multiples I (4HP) * A-180-2 – Multiples I (2HP) * A-180-3 – Dual Buffered Multiple * A-180-9 – Multicore * A-181 – Multiples II * A-182 – Switched multiples * A-183-1 – Dual attenuator * A-183-2 – Offset generator / attenuator / polarizer * A-183-3 – Amplifier * A-183-9 – Quad USB Power Supply * A-184-1 – Ring Modulator / S&H/T&H / Slew Limiter Combo * A-184-2 – Voltage Controlled Crossfader / Triangle-to-Sine Waveshaper * A-185-1 – Bus access * A-185-2 – Precision adder * A-186-1 – Gate/trigger combiner * A-187-1 –

DSP DSP may refer to: Computing * Digital signal processing, the mathematical manipulation of an information signal * Digital signal processor, a microprocessor designed for digital signal processing * Yamaha DSP-1, a proprietary digital signal ...

effects * A-188-1 – BBD * A-188-2 – Tapped BBD * A-189-1 – Bit modifier * A-190-1 – MIDI to CV/gate/sync interface * A-190-2 – MIDI to CV/gate interface * A-190-3 – USB/MIDI to CV/gate interface * A-190-4 – USB/MIDI to CV/gate/sync interface * A-190-5 – Polyphonic USB/MIDI to CV/gate interface * A-190-8 – USB/MIDI to sync interface * A-191 – MIDI to CV interface / shephard generator * A-192-1 – CV to MIDI interface * A-192-2 – CV/gate to MIDI/USB interface * A-196 –

Phase-locked loop A phase-locked loop or phase lock loop (PLL) is a control system that generates an output signal whose phase is related to the phase of an input signal. There are several different types; the simplest is an electronic circuit consisting of a ...

* A-197-1 –

VU meter A volume unit (VU) meter or standard volume indicator (SVI) is a device displaying a representation of the signal level in audio equipment. The original design was proposed in the 1940 IRE paper, ''A New Standard Volume Indicator and Reference Lev ...

* A-197-2 – LCD

oscilloscope An oscilloscope (informally a scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying electrical voltages as a two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of time. The main purposes are to display repetiti ...

* A-198 – Trautonium style

ribbon controller A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...

* A-199 –

Spring reverb A reverb effect, or reverb, is an audio effect applied to a sound signal to simulate reverberation. It may be created through physical means, such as echo chambers, or electronically through audio signal processing. Echo chambers The first re ...

Notable users

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

A-100 official home pageA-100 reviews at Harmony CentralA-100 at Vintage Synth ExplorerAnalogue Heaven: A visit to the Musikmesse in FrankfurtAnalogue Heaven: More about the MusikmesseAnalogue Heaven: Doepfer A-100 Review *** Part OneAnalogue Heaven: Doepfer A-100 Review *** Part TwoAnalogue Heaven: Doepfer A-100 Review *** Part Three ***Interactive online 3D presentation
MIDI instruments Monophonic synthesizers Analog synthesizers Doepfer synthesizers Modular synthesizers