Ampere 2
Support & FAQ
Everything worth knowing before you download, and the things people hit afterwards. The product page is on the store.
Before you download
Is it really free?
Yes. It is listed pay-what-you-want with a minimum of nothing, so you can take it for £0 without an argument, and nothing is withheld or time-limited if you do.
Should I use Ampere or Ampere 2?
Ampere 2, unless you need the equalizer or one of the formats it dropped — APE, WavPack, DSD, Musepack or tracker modules. It is a fraction of the download, starts faster, and can be used without a mouse. If you are not sure, run both; they do not interfere with each other.
What do I need to run it?
64-bit Windows 10 or 11. Nothing else — no codec pack, no .NET runtime, no
administrator rights. It is one portable Ampere2.exe of about 23 MB.
Does it replace the first Ampere?
No. It is a separate program with its own settings and its own right-click entries. Installing it changes nothing about an Ampere you already have, and removing either leaves the other working.
Will it change my default music player?
No. It adds itself to Open with and adds Play and Enqueue to the right-click menu. It asks once, on first run, before registering anything.
After you download
Windows says “Windows protected your PC”.
That is SmartScreen. The executable is not code-signed, so Windows warns on first run. Click More info, then Run anyway. If you would rather verify the file first, upload it to a service like VirusTotal and check it against the hash published with the download.
My .m4a, .aac or .wma files will not play.
Those three are played through Windows’ own Media Foundation, which the European “N” editions and some stripped-down installs do not include. Ampere 2 will have said so when you opened the file. Installing Microsoft’s Media Feature Pack from Settings › Apps › Optional features fixes it; every other format plays regardless.
Where does it put things, and how do I remove it?
Settings and a small diagnostic log go in %APPDATA%\Ampere2\, and
the right-click entries go under your own user account in the registry. Turn the
file associations off in Options, delete that folder and delete the executable,
and nothing is left behind.
Something will not play, and I want to report it.
The diagnostic log at %APPDATA%\Ampere2\ records why a file failed —
including whether Media Foundation was present. It is capped at 256 KB and
never leaves your machine unless you send it. Attach it when you get in touch.
How do updates work?
The player never checks for updates and never updates itself. New versions appear in your Gumroad library. Replace the old executable with the new one; your settings are kept.
Known limitations
Some of these are things the first Ampere did, given up for the size and the start-up.
- No equalizer. The first Ampere’s came from libvlc, and went with it.
- A shorter format list. APE, WavPack, DSD, Musepack, MIDI and tracker modules are not supported. The first Ampere still plays them.
- M4A, AAC and WMA need Media Foundation, which Windows “N” editions do not include.
- The queue is not restored on exit. Save it as an M3U if you want it back.
- Right-click verbs live under Show more options on Windows 11.
- No spectrum analyser, global media keys, internet radio, album art or classic skins.
Still stuck?
Get in touch through Gumroad. Tell me what you were playing, what you expected and what happened instead, and attach the diagnostic log if you can.