Product ReviewsMultimedia software
Since its last major upgrade a couple of years ago, there has been a huge amount of expectation surrounding the latest version Bias' audio-editing application, Peak Pro 6. Would it be able to combine mono and stereo files in a Playlist, and would it feature multitrack and surround sound editing? Well now that it's here we know the answer - no. Peak still deals exclusively with mono or stereo audio files. However, instead of wooing the surround sound community, Bias has opted to direct its efforts towards refining Peak as a stereo audio processing environment par excellence, building on the existing functionality to produce a lengthy 'what's new' list largely consisting of long-term users' requests. For a start, Peak Pro 6 is fast - the new cache in Ram feature allows for Ram-based editing, without having to constantly load audio files from disk. It also looks very different, with the sombre grey-on-grey look of previous versions replaced by a more electric, high-contrast GUI. It's much better all-round - the high-precision, logarithmic signal metering is especially crisp and clear. Peak windows are also now magnetic and snap neatly into place. Peak's DSP toolkit has been further expanded, with Perpetual Looper, Voiceover Ducking, Change Pitch and Convolve Envelope, and Change Duration adding new possibilities. The Ducking tool is aimed at the podcasting community and it's an intriguing concept. Essentially, take one existing audio file, record a voiceover file, combine the two and the audio will be automatically ducked whenever a signal is present in the voiceover file. Neat. Also worth noting is Peak Pro 6's tight integration with iTunes and .Mac. Perpetual Looper - intended to turn single notes into sustained loops - and the continued support for hardware samplers underscores Peak's importance to both ends of the sample-production
Peak's provision for dithering and bouncing has also been ramped up, and we particularly liked the real-time bounce feature, because it means plug-in controls can be manipulated as the bounce happens. Your actions are then recorded with the rendered file. This is great for having an effect or virtual instrument that increases in intensity over time, for example. Finally, when it comes to mastering and CD production, Peak's Playlist functionality has been markedly improved. It's still a slightly awkward process in terms of initial compilation, but the new cross-fades and volume envelope editing features are wonderful and can either be totally automatic or as customised as you like. Our overall experience with Peak Pro 6 was good. However, some longstanding niggles still exist, such as not being able to combine mono and stereo documents in a Playlist, nor being able to mix regions with different bit depths. There's also the continued need for clunky workarounds for what you'd think would be common audio tasks, such as editing just one channel of a stereo file. In fact, Peak's Achilles heel is still that much of its editing power is hidden by its idiosyncratic approach. The 300-page hard-copy manual is thus essential reading. There are also a few issues with Peak Pro 6 - as detailed on the support forums - but Bias has promised that a forthcoming 6.01 update will resolve such teething problems. In its favour, it's fully Leopard compatible, the irritating Hasp dongle has been ditched and users buying the XT bundle also get the DDP feature (for professional CD duplication) for free. Peak Pro is stable, mature, efficient and effective. These factors alone go a long way towards explaining its enduring appeal. With Bias' justifiably renowned sample rate conversion algorithms underpinning every action, the new features have been built on great-sounding, rock-solid foundations, producing an excellent full-service environment for working with audio. The impressive strength in depth of Peak Pro 6 underlines why it's long been the professionals' editing tool of choice and it undoubtedly remains king of the hill. By Jonathan Wilson |
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