FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT:
Christine A. Berkley, VP & Chief MARCOM Officer
707.782.1866 (voice) • 707.782.1874 (fax)
chris@bias-inc.com
BIAS SHIPS PEAK PRO XT 5 AND PEAK LE 5
Industry Standard Stereo Audio Recording, Editing, Processing, and Mastering Software Now Available In Three Editions: Peak Pro XT 5, Peak Pro 5, and Peak LE 5
Petaluma, CA • September, 14th 2005 • On the heels of the successful release of Peak Pro 5, BIAS, Inc. announced that Peak LE 5 and Peak Pro XT 5 are now shipping. This completes the new Peak line-up, which includes editions for a range of users, including professionals as well as audio enthusiasts and entry-level customers. At the high-end are Peak Pro 5 and Peak Pro XT 5 — an extended technology power bundle that includes Peak Pro 5, SoundSoap and SoundSoap Pro audio restoration plug-ins, plus the brand-new Master Perfection Suite™ — a collection of powerful processing plug-ins for mastering, analysis, and sound design. For the entry-level customer, Peak LE 5 is the latest "lite edition" of Peak, and has been considerably upgraded from previous editions while retaining it's entry level price point and acclaimed ease of use.
"We're excited to now offer the full range of Peak 5", said Jason E. Davies, VP Worldwide Sales for BIAS. "Whether you're a professional interested in the top of the line Peak Pro XT 5 package, or just starting out and require a more modest feature set, there's an edition of Peak tailored just for you." All Peak 5 editions are optimized for Mac OS X Tiger and share the same fundamental user interface — making the transition from LE to Pro as easy as possible.
Peak LE 5 — DV, DSP, CD Mastering, Virtual Instruments And More
Enormously popular since the first edition was released, Peak LE 5 continues to offer many of Peak's core features while remaining an easy to use and affordable solution. With new features for DV audio editing, CD mastering, and sound design, Peak LE 5 offers an impressive feature set for a broad range of users. Peak LE 5 now offers QuickTime Movie/DV clip synchronization and advanced Change Duration DSP — allowing users to adjust the length of audio clips without affecting pitch. In addition, Peak LE 5 offers a new Change Pitch DSP function, an Auto-Define Tracks tool (for easily slicing up recordings from vinyl records or cassettes into separate tracks), VST and AU virtual instrument support via an on screen virtual keyboard or an external MIDI controller, an entirely new playlist with advanced Red Book CD burning (complete with PQ editing, ISRC entry, CD Text, and more), plus other enhancements. Whether you need to produce a commercial ready audio CD, edit or prepare Podcasts, optimize audio for the web, edit audio for your iMovie or multi-media projects, or archive your vinyl and tape collection, Peak LE 5 delivers quality results easily and affordably.
Peak Pro XT 5 — Master Perfection Suite And More
Peak Pro XT 5, the ultimate bundle for the Peak audio professional, includes Peak Pro 5 — a major upgrade to the leading professional stereo recording, editing, mastering and delivery software for the Macintosh platform — SoundSoap 2 and SoundSoap Pro, plus the new Master Perfection Suite, a power packed plug-in bundle for mastering, analysis and sound design. Included in the Mater Perfection Suite are: PitchCraft (pitch correction), Reveal (7 analysis tools), SuperFreq (4, 6, 8, and 10-band parametric EQ), Repli-Q (EQ matching), Sqweez-3 & -5 (multiband compression/limiter/upward expander), and GateEx (gate/downward expander).
Power and Precision of Linear Phase
Several plug-ins included in Peak Pro XT 5 are based on advanced linear phase equalization algorithms. By retaining the relative phase of the frequency components (partials), waveforms are preserved with high precision — resulting in a much more transparent, and faithful reproduction of the original material. Linear Phase filtering is especially important for preserving the sharpness of attacks — typically present in percussive content — but all material benefits dramatically.
EQ Matching with Repli-Q
As the name implies, Repli-Q's primary function is to match the equalization of one source to another target signal, but the flexibility offered in the plug in allows even more. By learning the EQ profiles of the source and target signal, Repli-Q allows the degree of matching and smoothing to be manipulated. In addition, the EQ profiles may be edited with an unlimited number of breakpoints, allowing greater customization and flexibility. Repli-Q not only provides a spectral matching function, but also the ability to improve an improperly equalized track. Users can also rely on Repli-Q to assist with mastering for different delivery targets. With a stereo mix equalized for delivery in a compressed file format such as MP4 (AAC), Repli-Q can help repurpose it for CD or DVD and can also help ensure equally optimized playback in multiple listening environments. Other applications include voice-over matching where an original take recorded in one environment and an overdub recorded in a different environment need to match. Repli-Q employs a linear phase equalization algorithm to ensure optimum results. A gain compensation feature compensates for loudness variations through equalization, and a soft clip button offers limiting to avoid signal clipping.
Multiband Compression with Sqweez-3 and Sqweez-5
Peak Pro 5 includes the same high quality compression/limiter plug-in from Peak 4 — Sqweez. With Peak Pro XT 5, two powerful multiband compression/limiter plug-ins are included — Sqweez-3 (3 band) and Sqweez-5 (5 band). Like Repli-Q, both Sqweez-3 and Sqweez-5 incorporate advanced new linear phase equalization algorithms from BIAS. Sqweez-3 and Sqweez-5 both offer graphic per-band viewing/editing of threshold and EQ. Each band may be solo'd and/or bypassed individually, and a convenient "auto gain" button compensates for loudness variations due to compression. Additionally, a variable "digital ceiling" slider controls the clipping headroom of the integrated soft clip function.
Advanced Pitch Correction and More with PitchCraft
PitchCraft is a real-time pitch correction/transposition plug-in that also offers the ability to manipulate the signal to achieve creative effects. Professionals can rely on PitchCraft to fix out-of-tune vocals or other single voice instruments easily and with minimal artifacts, thanks to a powerful new pitch-shifting algorithm. The user interface offers intuitive controls with a useful graph that displays the original pitch over time against the corrected signal. Tuning, scale, and key can be tailored for specific needs. Custom scales may be entered directly or via a MIDI controller keyboard, and a handy tuning meter helps provide feedback during parameter adjustment. Transposition can be made independently of correction, and an independent formant shifting slider is also included. Using a combination of transposition and pitch correction by scale type, users can create harmony parts from a single melody line, and independent formant shifting is offered to transform voice genders with or without pitch shifting. Using other combinations of controls, humorous, eerie, and even supernatural effects can be obtained, making PitchCraft a great sound design tool as well.
Professional Audio Analysis with Reveal
BIAS has significantly advanced the paradigm of audio analysis tools with Reveal, another new plug-in included with Peak Pro XT 5. Reveal combines seven powerful tools in a single plug-in interface — Oscilloscope, Peak and RMS Power History, Spectrogram, Pan Power, Spectral Analysis, Lissajous Phase Scope and Peak and RMS Level Meters. An "all" view displays every tool in a single window. Additionally, users can select any tool as desired via a tab style interface, or simply click on a tool to expand its view. Users can enable or disable individual tools as desired, and a global freeze display feature is also included.
Gate and Downward Expand with GateEx
There is no denying the plethora of power offered in Peak Pro XT 5, but the package wouldn't be complete without a dedicated noise gate. Enter GateEx, a new professional quality Gate/Expander plug-in. Featuring waveform and graph displays and a suite of advanced parameter controls, GateEx effectively removes signals below an assignable threshold while the integrated downward expander helps reduce residual unwanted content. Used along with the included SoundSoap and SoundSoap Pro audio restoration tools, or by itself to gate snare drum hits or areas of near silence between vocal or instrument passages, GateEx is an excellent compliment to the high-end Peak Pro XT 5 plug-in toolset.
Pricing & Availability
Peak Pro XT 5 ($1199 SRP), Peak LE 5 ($129 SRP), and Peak Pro 5 ($599 SRP) are available now through the worldwide network of authorized BIAS resellers and distributors. Customers who purchased Peak LE 4 after July 1st 2005 may upgrade to Peak LE 5 for $29 US. Customers who purchased Peak 4 prior to July 1st 2005 may upgrade to Peak LE 5 for $59 US. Upgrade pricing from other editions of Peak as well as cross-grade pricing to Peak Pro 5 and Peak Pro XT 5 can be found at www.bias-inc.com.
About BIAS
BIAS, Inc., a privately held corporation based in Petaluma, California, is an established leader in cutting-edge audio software technology. BIAS' award-winning product line — which currently includes Peak Pro XT, Peak Pro, Peak LE, Deck, Deck LE, Master Perfection Suite, SoundSoap, and SoundSoap Pro — can be heard on numerous hit recordings, Hollywood and independent feature films, television productions, websites, video games, and other productions. BIAS, founded in 1994 as Berkley Integrated Audio Software Inc, is dedicated to crafting powerful, innovative tools for audio, video, and film professionals, as well as musicians, composers, multimedia developers, and Internet authors.
###
Visit the BIAS Web site at: http://www.bias-inc.com
© 2008 BIAS, Inc. BIAS, Peak Pro XT, Peak Pro, Peak LE, Master Perfection Suite, SoundSoap, SoundSoap Pro, Deck, Deck LE, Vbox, Sqweez, Sqweez-3, Sqweez-5, Freq, and SuperFreq, Repli-Q, PitchCraft, GateEx, Reveal, PHAT, DCAT, USRC, and CLNR are trademarks of BIAS, Inc. All other trademarks property of their respective holders. All prices and features subject to change.
Click here to return to BIAS' Press Room Index.