BIAS PEAK 4
Mar 1, 2004 12:00 PM, BY ERIK HAWKINS
For sound design, quick stereo-file fixes, audio-file conversions and batch processing, BIAS Peak has been my go-to program for many years. Even though many digital audio sequencers have evolved into fairly robust waveform editors and sound-design tools, I have continued to depend on Peak for its ease of use and well-implemented feature set. Some actions I simply can't complete in any other program. The latest version of Peak (4.03 at the time of this review) adds a host of new features — including direct CD burning, Audio Units plug-in support, more stock plug-ins and higher MP3-encoding rates — that are guaranteed to perpetuate its reputation as a pro-audio workhorse.
Peak 4 is exclusive to Mac OS X and is both multiprocessor- and Panther-compliant. (Panther is Mac OS 10.3.x.) For those times when you're stuck working in OS 9, version 3.2 comes bundled with Peak 4. Sorry, PC users, the program is still Mac-only. All of the standard audio file formats are supported: AIFF, Sound Designer II, WAV, QuickTime, MP3 and MP4. Peak 4 can even handle bit depths as great as 32 bits and sample rates as high as 10 MHz, which I'm sure would sound amazing if I had an audio interface with those specifications. Audio interfaces with Core Audio drivers are supported.
Installation was simple and completely routine. I tested Peak 4 on a dual G4/500MHz machine with 1 GB of RAM and running OS 10.2.6, and I used a MOTU 828 audio interface. Copy protection comes via a product serial number and an authorization code that you receive from BIAS after you register. To allow you time to register and obtain the authorization code, or just to procrastinate, the program runs for 14 days without restriction. I registered online and received the authorization code through e-mail immediately.
DISPLAYS AND WHISTLES
In keeping with the program's OS X compatibility, Peak 4 has an updated interface sporting a brushed-metal texture. The new look complements OS X nicely. The main signal meters are of a higher contrast, making levels easy to see. They function much like high-quality hardware meters, with Peak Hold and Clip Indicator Hold times that can be set to 3 seconds, infinite or none. A new Bit Usage meter lets you monitor an audio file's “real” bit depth, bit saturation and degradation. If you've ever wondered why a 24-bit recording sounds like a 16-bit recording, this is the tool that can tell you how many bits were actually recorded.
The fixed horizontal toolbar of previous versions, with its difficult-to-figure-out icons, used to really get under my skin. I'm happy to report that Peak 4 features an entirely new toolbar setup. Users can now reshape, resize and reposition the toolbar by simply clicking and dragging its lower-right edge. Just about every tool in Peak can now be added to the toolbar. And when you run across a tool icon on the toolbar that you don't recognize, holding your cursor over the icon causes a pop-up label to appear — what a relief.
The Pencil tool has a new Magic mode that you can use to automatically remove pops and clicks. It allows you to smooth out a waveform's rough edges with little thought to your Pencil's line. All that you have to do is hold down the Option key and draw over a section of offending peaks to make the pops and clicks magically disappear. The amount of smoothing can be adjusted from 0 to 100, the maximum setting. If you have ever had to manually draw out a cluster of digital distortion peaks, you know how tedious the procedure can be. The Pencil tool's new mode makes such operations a breeze.
SOUND-DESIGN SATISFACTION
You can process audio files in Peak in one of two ways, either in real time using plug-ins (VST or Audio Units) or through a file-based operation called DSP. Vbox SE, a restricted version (it won't run stand-alone) of BIAS' powerful effect-matrix processing application, comes bundled with Peak. It's an amazing tool that allows you to insert any number of effects in just about any order imaginable. You can really cook up some huge effects if you have the processing power. The only problem with Vbox SE is that its window cannot show a matrix larger than 4×4. Even though you can create a much larger matrix, you're stuck navigating the grid using tiny scroll up and down arrows. If Vbox SE is more power than you require, a new feature allows as many as five in-line inserts, which are similar in setup to the insert points of a virtual mixer channel.
Several fresh effects have been added, as well, such as a comprehensive compressor/limiter plug-in called Sqweez. It's available as a real-time effect to Vbox SE and the insert points. ImpulseVerb, an impulse-response reverb, has joined the DSP list; it's based on the same type of real-space sampling technology as competing products (such as Altiverb by Audio Ease) and sounds equally impressive. It doesn't sport many parameters, just a wet/dry mix setting and a control for tailoring the reverb's envelope; a lowpass filter would be handy. Although it's a DSP effect, you can audition the results in real time before committing them to disk. (However, it's such a cool reverb that I wish it were a plug-in.) Stock presets include wonderful spaces such as Trinity Church (in Boston), Basilica de San Francisco and even an elevator called Small Lift. Users can also add their own impulse-response files.
Another new DSP effect is Harmonic Rotate, which allows the frequency spectrum in a selected region to be rotated around a horizontal axis. It's a pretty esoteric effect that can cause speaker damage and upset your neighbor's dogs if you're not careful. A very cool dynamic-tempo-change feature has been incorporated into the Change Duration DSP effect. It allows you to define how and when tempo changes will occur according to your own custom-made envelope. It took some digging to find this feature, as it's buried under Change Duration's Advanced button.
A new Marker to Tempo command can generate a series of markers aligned to bars and beats. The audio file's assigned tempo must be correct for this command to work properly. When the markers come out right, they can function as a tempo grid within which to create rhythmic sound effects. Because SMDI samplers continue to be supported, after you have concocted many twisted sounds, you have the option of dumping them to your sampler for playback.
UTILITARIAN TOOLS
Hands down, one of the sweetest new features in Peak 4 is the ability to burn CDs directly from the program itself; no other CD-authoring programs are needed. This is a wonderful time-saver. Straight from Peak's playlist or even from an audio file, you can burn a disk-at-once Red Book audio CD. When you create an audio CD directly from an audio file and more than one region is present, you are given the option of creating one contiguous CD Track or multiple CD Tracks broken up according to the regions. However, if you should still prefer to use Roxio Jam, you can save your playlist as a Jam Image file.
Peak can now rip MP3 files with encoding rates as high as 320 kbps. With the onslaught of MP3 players, such as Apple's iPod, and many more people with high-speed Internet connections, higher-quality MP3 files can't happen fast enough. Obviously aiming for this market, Peak even supports the brand-new MP4 file format, which claims even higher-resolution compressed audio.
The invaluable Batch File Processor feature is still part of the program. It allows you to automate any number of editing and DSP tasks via the Batch File Processor's intuitive interface. Imagine needing to normalize, notch a midrange problem frequency and add one second to the beginning of 100 audio files. Doing that by hand would take hours. However, by automating the entire process in Batch File Processor, you have just enough time for a coffee break. Batch File Processor is one of those tools that once you use it, you wonder how you ever got along without it.
PEAK PERFORMANCE
Years ago, Peak had a reputation as a program that crashed a lot. Although Peak 4 did crash a couple of times, the program seemed to be very stable. It crashed once at first launch, but I expected this as part of the installation process, which according to the FAQ page at the BIAS Website is due to the program's initial attempt to find the Apple Address Book; overall, this is a Mac OS issue and is only likely to affect a few users. I had no such problems on subsequent launches. As with any software program, saving regularly is a wise idea.
With QuickTime version 5.0 or later installed, you can view QuickTime movie files directly in Peak. According to BIAS, audio and movie playback has “better-than-frame-accurate synchronization.” Even scrubbing of the QuickTime movie can be performed directly in Peak. This feature, combined with the program's powerful mastering and sound-design tools, makes it a great candidate for sound and picture tasks (such as soundtrack improvement or restoration).
Peak can perform an impressive number of tasks quite well, but it excels at sound design and the less-glamorous file-processing-type jobs. Its new effects are useful and add much to the program's sound-processing arsenal. The ability to author Red Book audio CDs directly from a playlist or audio file is nearly worth the program's $499 sticker price alone. Peak 4 can be a wonderful companion program to a digital audio sequencer or to video-editing software. The best endorsement that I can give Peak 4 is that it will continue to be an important part of my production process.
Product Summary
BIAS
PEAK 4 > $499
Pros: Powerful sound-design tools, including Vbox SE. Audio Units plug-in support. New impulse-response reverb effect.
Cons: Vbox SE window cannot expand to view entire matrix.
Contact: tel. (707) 782-1866; e-mail support@bias-inc.com; Web www.bias-inc.com
System Requirements
G3/300 or better; 256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended); OS 10.2 or higher; 80 MB available disk space; 18ms (average seek time) hard drive or faster; Core Audio — compatible hardware (ImpulseVerb requires G4 or faster)
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