The VL-1 is known for its toy-like novelty sounds and cheap build quality, as well as its inorganic design.
The design of the OP-1 was influenced by the VL-Tone, a synthesizer and pocket calculator manufactured by Casio in 1979. Following an announcement at Frankfurt Musikmesse in 2009, they presented a prototype of the OP-1 at the 2010 NAMM Show in Anaheim, and it was released in the following year. At the time, the team consisted of nine engineers and software developers. The OP-1 is the first product developed by the company. Teenage Engineering was founded in 2005 by Jesper Kouthoofd, David Eriksson, Jens Rudberg and David Mollerstedt.
