Digitech Trio+ Band Creator/Looper With AX8?

RKF

Inspired
I'd like to be able to switch in and out loops with and without the band created by the Trio+ and simultaneously be able to switch presets at will on the AX8. Can anyone tell me if this is possible and how to connect everything? I'm not really understanding how I can plug into the Trio+, then go out to the AX8 without also affecting the bass & drum sounds coming from the Trio with the AX8's modeling. Should this be ran into the AX8's fx loop?

The Trio creates bass & drum parts based on your playing style. I love the idea of this but want to keep the bass and drum sounds unaffected by whatever I've got going on inside the AX8.

I know the AX8 has a looper but it's more limited and I don't believe you can switch in and out of presets while it's playing the loop. Besides, I'd rather not tie up more of the processor with another fx block in the grid.

Any help appreciated!
 
I'd like to be able to switch in and out loops with and without the band created by the Trio+ and simultaneously be able to switch presets at will on the AX8. Can anyone tell me if this is possible and how to connect everything? I'm not really understanding how I can plug into the Trio+, then go out to the AX8 without also affecting the bass & drum sounds coming from the Trio with the AX8's modeling. Should this be ran into the AX8's fx loop?

The Trio creates bass & drum parts based on your playing style. I love the idea of this but want to keep the bass and drum sounds unaffected by whatever I've got going on inside the AX8.

I know the AX8 has a looper but it's more limited and I don't believe you can switch in and out of presets while it's playing the loop. Besides, I'd rather not tie up more of the processor with another fx block in the grid.

Any help appreciated!

Hmm, the Trio+ doesn't have MIDI, so I don't think it's possible. IF it had MIDI, then I think it's definitely possible.
 
I definitely want one of these if I start teaching a lot again, but I can't think of how to integrate it with my AX8.
 
@RKF - I use my Trio Plus with my FX8/AX8...

And I use it the simplest & easiest way; NOT integrated into the Fractal but simply placed after it.

So, guitar > FX8AX8 > Trio Plus > Amp

Simple and very effective !

For what its worth, the Trio Plus is probably THE best musical item Ive ever bought.
 
@RKF - I use my Trio Plus with my FX8/AX8...

And I use it the simplest & easiest way; NOT integrated into the Fractal but simply placed after it.

So, guitar > FX8AX8 > Trio Plus > Amp

Simple and very effective !

For what its worth, the Trio Plus is probably THE best musical item Ive ever bought.

Thanks for the reply!

So once you record and set the loop, it doesn't change no matter what you do inside the AX8? So if you lay down a rhythm, add the drums and bass from the Trio, you can then change tones as you like inside the AX8?
 
Yes mate, as long as the Trio is after the FX8.

The Trio records the sounds, and the Fractal supplies them

Thanks. I was just confused as I thought the Trio was setup to accept an instrument level input (guitar signal) rather than what the Ax8 is putting out.
 
I use Guitar -> Trio+ Guitar in
Trio+ Fx Send -> Ax8 in
Ax8 out -> Trio+ Fx Return

You also want to use both the mixer and amp out from the Trio+ so I run them both into my mixer, and sometimes the amp out into my Friedman ASM.

This way I can use both the looper and band functionality of the Trio+ with the detection being a clean guitar signal.
 
I use Guitar -> Trio+ Guitar in
Trio+ Fx Send -> Ax8 in
Ax8 out -> Trio+ Fx Return

You also want to use both the mixer and amp out from the Trio+ so I run them both into my mixer, and sometimes the amp out into my Friedman ASM.

This way I can use both the looper and band functionality of the Trio+ with the detection being a clean guitar signal.

Thanks Johan. So the cab simulation on the Trio's amp output doesn't kill your tone? Or is there emulation there?
 
Thanks Johan. So the cab simulation on the Trio's amp output doesn't kill your tone? Or is there emulation there?

That's why you want to connect both outputs on the Trio. Trio cab emulation is enabled to the guitar sound when you only run the mixer Output. And drums and bass are fed into the Ax8 when you only run the amp Output (although drums and bass through the Brootalz would be interesting) so running both outputs from the Trio into the mixer gives the best sound. I even got myself a Behringer MiniMixer to just feed both outputs into my Matrix Fr10.
 
After reading this thread I bought a Trio+. Thank you for pointing to it. It's a great tool.

The auto sensing inputs brought me some headache :) I came up with the following routing.

Guitar -> ax8 Input 1 -> ax8 Out 1 -> Trio fx Return -> Trio Mixer & Amp Out -> mixer -> studio Monitors

With the guitar directly going to the ax8 the Trio doesn't kill the hights of the guitar Signal. Sound feels better this way in my opinion.

To teach the Trio I use Out to of the ax8:

Ax8 Out 2 -> Trio Input

In the io menu of the ax8 set echo out 2 to "input 1" .

* This way you don't need an extra block in the grid.
* Use the looper of the Trio
* Teach it with preset of your choice
* Feed your ax8 with your guitar
 
After reading this thread I bought a Trio+. Thank you for pointing to it. It's a great tool.

The auto sensing inputs brought me some headache :) I came up with the following routing.

Guitar -> ax8 Input 1 -> ax8 Out 1 -> Trio fx Return -> Trio Mixer & Amp Out -> mixer -> studio Monitors

With the guitar directly going to the ax8 the Trio doesn't kill the hights of the guitar Signal. Sound feels better this way in my opinion.

To teach the Trio I use Out to of the ax8:

Ax8 Out 2 -> Trio Input

In the io menu of the ax8 set echo out 2 to "input 1" .

* This way you don't need an extra block in the grid.
* Use the looper of the Trio
* Teach it with preset of your choice
* Feed your ax8 with your guitar

Thanks for the detailed routing explanation!
 
After reading this thread I bought a Trio+. Thank you for pointing to it. It's a great tool.

The auto sensing inputs brought me some headache :) I came up with the following routing.

Guitar -> ax8 Input 1 -> ax8 Out 1 -> Trio fx Return -> Trio Mixer & Amp Out -> mixer -> studio Monitors

With the guitar directly going to the ax8 the Trio doesn't kill the hights of the guitar Signal. Sound feels better this way in my opinion.

To teach the Trio I use Out to of the ax8:

Ax8 Out 2 -> Trio Input

In the io menu of the ax8 set echo out 2 to "input 1" .

* This way you don't need an extra block in the grid.
* Use the looper of the Trio
* Teach it with preset of your choice
* Feed your ax8 with your guitar

Nice setup but you lose the stereo out of the AX8.
My setup is similar as yours, the difference is that I go from main out of AX8 in stereo to the mixer, and from Trio out to different channel of the mixer. The only problem is that I also have my main guitar signal go from Trio out to mixer, and it modifies the sound because I have then my main guitar signal on 2 différent channels of the mixer. If I put a dummy plug in the Trio out and use the mix out for bass and drums, I get rid of the main signal, I thought that was the answer, but unfortunately I loose le looper when it's plugged that way.

I would be happy if I could modify my Trio to get rid of the main guitar signal on the Trio output.
 
Nice setup but you lose the stereo out of the AX8.
There is another way of keeping the stereo output of the AX8 intact in combination with the Trio+. It can be achieved by using the FX-Loop to route the signal from the AX8 into the Trio and back from the Trio into the AX8 to output 1.
but unfortunately I loose le looper when it's plugged that way.
By using the effects loop you can route a fully processed signal to the return of the Trio. Using a control switch and two volume blocks you can route the processed guitar signal to either out 1 for noodling in stereo or fx-send for loop recording in mono. For learning, the raw signal is routed to the Trio guitar input by using left and right output of the FX-Loop seperatly.
I would be happy if I could modify my Trio to get rid of the main guitar signal on the Trio output.
While playing over the backing track the guitar isn't on the Trio output this way.

Using this solution you have to sacrifice the freedom to use every preset with your Trio. You have to build special Trio presets. If you are interested I'll post a routing diagram and add screenshots and block settings to explain it in detail. With words only the routing is too complicated to explain for me as being not a native speaker.
 
Thanks for the answer, It would really help me to get a hand on your solution. As I already wasted a lot of time with no satisfying routing at the moment. Please post what you suggest.
 
Ok here we go. It is a little bit tricky. Took me a while to wrap my head around it. Enjoy ;)

Connect your TRIO+ to the AX8 like this:

Stereo HW Setup.png
To avoid having the loop on the left side only and the drums and bass guitar on the other side you have to combine the inputs of IN 2 and OUT 2 has to run in stereo in the IO menu (press: shift - page - 2 - page)

IN 2 (FX RETURN) MODE: L+R SUM
OUT 2 (FX SEND) MODE: STEREO

If you don't want to do that, put a volume block behind the FX LOOP and combine the signal there. You have to replace the "Volume 2" block (upper row) with another block e.g. filter. The type of the block doesn't matter. It is only used to mute the line when the processed signal goes to the TRIO+. This avoids a doubled guitar signal.

Now you are ready to start with the template preset I've added to the thread. I had to max OUT 2 level for a propper signal but be careful with that.

The following screen shots show what is happening in the preset.

Grid.JPG
FX Loop Settings.JPG
Vol 2 Settings.JPG Vol 2 Controler.JPG Vol 1 Settings.JPG Vol 1 Controler.JPG
 

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  • Trio+ Stereo Template.syx
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Ok here we go. It is a little bit tricky. Took me a while to wrap my head around it. Enjoy ;)

Connect your TRIO+ to the AX8 this:

View attachment 38659
To avoid having the loop on the left side only and the drums and bass guitar on the other side you have to combine the inputs of IN 2 and OUT 2 has to run in stereo in the IO menu (press: shift - page - 2 - page)

IN 2 (FX RETURN) MODE: L+R SUM)
OUT 2 (FX SEND) MODE: STEREO)

If you don't want to do that, put a volume block behind the FX LOOP and combine the signal there. You have to replace the "Volume 2" block (upper row) with another block e.g. filter. The type of the block doesn't matter. It is only used to mute the line when the processed signal goes to the TRIO+. This avoids a doubled guitar signal.

Now you are ready to start with the template preset I've added to the thread. I had to max OUT 2 level for a propper signal but be careful with that.

The following screen shots show what is happening in the preset.

View attachment 38653
View attachment 38654
View attachment 38655 View attachment 38656 View attachment 38657 View attachment 38658
Wow, this is awesome, thanks!

I don't even have a trio yet but if I do get one, this will be a great guide to use to connect it.
 
I don't even have a trio yet but if I do get one, this will be a great guide to use to connect it.

Thank you, you're welcome. But remember setup ist only worth it if you want stereo guitars. If mono ist ok there are easier and more flexibel options ;)
 
Thanks a lot for that, it's really impressive what you achieved here. Didn't have tested yet, but will ASAP! Really grateful for what you shared. Thanks mate.
 
The digitech trio plus is the best guitar related money I ever spent. With it and the Axe FX, I really feel like the future is here.
 
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