Question 1

Do you offer a free trial?

Accepted Answer

Yes — a 7-day fully functional trial. Install the trial; activating with your license converts it to the full version.

Question 2

How do I buy a license?

Accepted Answer

Use the Purchase button to open our embedded checkout powered by Moonbase. Payments and order processing are handled securely by Moonbase. After checkout, you will receive an email with your receipt and license.

Question 3

What happens after I complete my purchase?

Accepted Answer

You will be redirected back to the site upon successful checkout. You will also receive an email with a download link and your license, and your purchase will be available in your Moonbase account.

Question 4

Do you offer a payment plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes — we offer Rent to Own, which lets you spread the cost over monthly payments. Once all payments are complete, you own the license outright. Click "Rent to Own" on the homepage to get started.

Question 5

Is payment secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Checkout and payments are processed by Moonbase. They provide a hosted checkout and SDKs for a secure purchase flow.

Question 6

How do I import presets (.preset or .zip)?

Accepted Answer

Drag and drop a .preset file or a .zip preset bundle anywhere in the plugin window or onto the Preset Browser. Zip archives are unpacked automatically and imported; you can drop multiple files at once. Imported presets will appear in the Preset Browser under your User library.

Question 7

Why do my looper recordings persist when I change presets?

Accepted Answer

The Looper is global — it is not saved with presets. This is by design: looper clips are audio captures decoupled from the DSP graph that generated them. You can build layers in the looper while browsing different presets.

Question 8

How do I save and recall looper states?

Accepted Answer

Use Looper Variations — 8 slots to save complete looper states. Click a variation slot to queue it (switches at next bar boundary), or double-click for immediate switch. Right-click slots to Save, Load, Copy, Paste, or Remove. Drag between slots to duplicate.

Question 9

Can I record external audio into the looper?

Accepted Answer

Yes! Right-click any looper track and set Source to "External Input". This allows you to record live audio from your audio interface directly into the looper.

Question 10

What is Overdub mode?

Accepted Answer

Overdub layers new audio on top of existing recordings. Replace overwrites the existing clip entirely. Toggle globally in the header, or per-track via right-click menu.

Question 11

How do I activate the plugin?

Accepted Answer

Licensing is powered by Moonbase. Open the plugin in your DAW and follow the activation prompt. Sign in to your account and activate your license.

Question 12

How many computers can I activate on?

Accepted Answer

Licenses are per user and allow activation on up to 3 devices at the same time. You can view and manage activations from your account. If you need a reset or temporary additional activations for a migration, contact support.

Question 13

Do you support offline activation?

Accepted Answer

Yes. If your studio machine is offline, follow the offline activation flow using Moonbase activation files. Save your device token (.dt) and complete the process on an online device. Then import your license token (license-file.mb) into the plugin.

Question 14

How do I remove my license?

Accepted Answer

To remove your license manually, delete the settings folder: macOS: ~/Library/MAP Audio/PAM. Windows: %APPDATA%\MAP Audio\PAM.

Question 15

Supported operating systems

Accepted Answer

macOS 12 or later (Apple Silicon only) and Windows.

Question 16

Which plugin formats do you support?

Accepted Answer

macOS: AU, VST3, CLAP, Standalone. Windows: VST3, CLAP, Standalone.

Question 17

What is the MCP Bridge?

Accepted Answer

PAM includes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that lets AI agents and LLMs control the plugin in real time. Enable it in Settings > Experimental Mode > MCP Bridge. AI tools like Claude Code can then load samples, trigger patterns, adjust parameters, and design sounds directly inside PAM.

Question 18

How do I set up the MCP Bridge?

Accepted Answer

In PAM: Settings > Experimental Mode > enable MCP Bridge (default port 9847). PAM writes connection info to ~/.pam-mcp-bridge.json on startup. Then add PAM's MCP server to your AI client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, etc.) by adding this block to its MCP config file: { "mcpServers": { "pam": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@map-audio/pam-mcp-server"] } } }. Requires Node.js 21+. Restart your AI client and PAM's tools will appear. Transport must be playing for sequencer output.

Question 19

What can AI agents do with PAM?

Accepted Answer

AI agents can load and randomize samples, create and edit patterns, adjust any parameter, add modulation (LFO, envelope, ParamSeq), control transport, export audio, manage presets and variations, and design complete sound patches — all through natural language conversation.

Question 20

Does PAM support non-4/4 time signatures?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Right-click the BPM display and pick from 12 meter presets: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/4, 3/8, 5/8, 6/8, 7/8, 9/8, 12/8. Patterns, looper, song mode, MIDI imports, and resampled clips all follow the selected meter. When DAW-synced, the host drives time signature.

Question 21

Can I trigger variations from a MIDI controller?

Accepted Answer

Enable MIDI Variation Hold in General settings, then right-click a variation slot and choose Learn MIDI Note. Press a note on your controller to bind it. Holding the bound note plays the variation and runs transport; releasing stops. Re-pressing restarts the pattern from beat 1.

Question 22

Why does my step sometimes not fire?

Accepted Answer

Check the step's Trig Condition (Cond drag-input in the right-click step properties popover). 1ST fires only on the first loop pass. N:M fires on the Nth pass of every M-loop cycle. A glyph on the step shows the active condition. Probability and Trig Condition gate together — both must pass for the step to fire.

Question 23

My MIDI controller isn't detected in standalone — what do I do?

Accepted Answer

Update PAM to 1.4.33 or later. Standalone auto-detects connected MIDI controllers, including ones plugged in after launch. Older builds required a manual toggle in Settings → MIDI; that step is no longer needed.

Question 24

Can I use mapped MIDI CCs without them passing through to other plugins?

Accepted Answer

Yes. CCs, notes, and pitch bend consumed via MIDI Learn are filtered from PAM's MIDI output, so they don't echo to downstream plugins on the same lane.

Question 25

Can I trigger live resample-into-a-cell from a MIDI controller?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Open Settings → MIDI → MIDI → Resample, pick a CC (default CC 19) and channel. Send the CC with value 1–8 to toggle live capture into Cell 1–8; re-trigger the same cell to stop. Other values — including button-release value 0 — are silently ignored, so it is safe to assign to a momentary pad. Capture follows the source, length, and bar-sync that the right-click Resample panel was last configured with, so you can prep once and trigger hands-free.

Question 26

How do I use multi-output routing in my DAW?

Accepted Answer

PAM supports up to 8 stereo output buses (16 channels total), letting you route each cell to a separate mixer channel in your DAW. In PAM, open Settings > Output Routing to assign cells to output buses. In your DAW, load the multi-output version of PAM and enable the aux outputs you need.

Question 27

Ableton Live doesn't show PAM's multi-outputs — what should I do?

Accepted Answer

If PAM's extra output pairs (3/4, 5/6, etc.) don't appear in Ableton Live, force a plugin rescan: Make sure you are running the latest version of PAM. Quit Ableton Live. Delete the plugin scan database. Relaunch Ableton Live — it will rescan all plugins.

Question 28

Logic Pro shows a wrong number of outputs — what should I do?

Accepted Answer

If Logic shows an unexpected multi-output variant (e.g. a number other than 16), rescan your plugins: Make sure you are running the latest version of PAM. Quit Logic Pro. Delete the AU cache: ~/Library/Caches/AudioUnitCache/. Relaunch Logic — it will rescan all Audio Units. Select the "Multi Output (16)" variant.

Question 29

PAM crashes or freezes — what should I do?

Accepted Answer

Update PAM to the latest build and restart your Mac/PC. Update your DAW to the latest version. Try the Standalone app to verify your audio device and sample rate. Remove other inserts temporarily and test in a fresh session. Increase your audio buffer size. Rescan your plugins. If it persists, send crash logs, OS version, DAW/version, and exact steps to support@map.audio.

Question 30

Need quick help?

Accepted Answer

Join our Discord for troubleshooting and real-time help: https://discord.gg/nWh5XDNW6c

Question 31

How do I transfer a license?

Accepted Answer

Contact support to request a license transfer. We will verify eligibility and process transfers according to our policy.

Question 32

Can't find what you need?

Accepted Answer

Reach us at support@map.audio and we will help you.