Originally a manufacturer of electronic effects devices, and briefly an ARP dealer, Oberheim went on to create several ground-breaking products in the early days of synthesizers and electronic music including the DS-2 (one of the first analogue music sequencers) and the Synthesizer Expansion Module (SEM). The first commercially available polyphonic synthesizers, Oberheim's Two-voice, Four-voice, and Eight-voice configurations, were based on these modules.

Oberheim continued to make synthesizers until the late 1980s. Oberheim's DMX drum machine was a staple of early hip-hop music.