Tips & troubleshootingthe stuff that saves your gig

Your USB MIDI stomp stops working until you replug it? Windows is putting it to sleep.

Turn off USB selective suspend — Windows powers down "idle" USB devices, and a footswitch you haven't pressed in ten minutes looks idle. Two fixes, do both:

Power plan: Start → type Edit power plan → Change advanced power settings → USB settings → USB selective suspend setting → Disabled (both On battery and Plugged in, if shown) → OK.
Per-hub: Start → type Device Manager → expand Universal Serial Bus controllers → double-click each USB Root Hub / Generic USB Hub → Power Management tab → UNTICK "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" → OK. Repeat for each hub.

The NoAMP standalone also runs a hot-replug watchdog — if a device does vanish and come back, it re-opens it automatically. DAWs generally don't, so fix the sleep at the source.

Ableton Live: map MIDI the Live way (not with plugin MIDI Learn)

Live doesn't hand raw MIDI to audio-effect plugins, so the plugin's own right-click MIDI Learn never hears your controller there. Use Live's mapping instead:

Drop NoAMP (or any module) on a track and look at its small device panel in Live.
Click Configure on the device's title bar (it arms green).
Open the plugin window and move the knob you want — it pops into the device panel as a Live parameter. Grab every control you'll perform with. Click Configure again to finish.
Now map like any Live control: Ctrl+M (MIDI map mode) → click the parameter in the device panel → move your MIDI controller → Ctrl+M out. Done.

Where the built-in MIDI Learn works

Host	Right-click MIDI Learn
NoAMP standalone	Always — it talks to your MIDI gear directly (and auto-recovers replugged devices).
DAWs that route MIDI to effect plugins	Works once you route a MIDI track's output to the plugin (e.g. Reaper, Bitwig; Cubase/Studio One via a MIDI/instrument track pointed at the effect).
Ableton Live	Not by default — use the Configure workflow above (or a MIDI track with "MIDI To" aimed at the plugin's track).

The wah + your expression pedal

Calibrate it — two minutes, once: right-click the pedal → MIDI Learn → rock your pedal, then heel down → SET LOW, toe down → SET HIGH. Full walkthrough on the Wines page.

Protect your ears

Audio software can produce sudden peaks and feedback. Start quiet, raise slowly, keep a limiter on your master (NoAMP's output limiter is always on — if the OUT meter grows a red cap, back off). Save your work often.

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