Bias Ships Peak 3.0, Peak LE for OS X


Peak is a professional and consumer audio editing application for OS 9 and OS X. Users can import, edit, add effects and export back to their encoding of choice. For example, Peak supports MP3, SoundDesigner and AIFF, among many others.


Peak also supports the hundreds of third-party VST plug-ins available, which can add echo, delay, reverb or Dolby surround sound. Bias' press release aays that Peak 3.0 supports OS X native plug-ins, while plug-ins which have not yet been Carbonized for OS X can run in OS 9.


Bias touts Peak 3.0's OS X capabilities in particular. For example, Peak 3.0 implements CoreAudio, which permits audio I/O in OS X to support multichannel, multiclient hardware, and resolutions better than 24-bit/96KHz.


Peak 3.0 also includes Bias' new BIAS Freq, a 4-band equalizer which supports -18dB to +18dB gain values, 0.1 to 10 Q values and sweepable 20Hz to 20kHz frequency values, among many other features. For audio editors wanting even more capabilities, Bias offers the 10-band SuperFreq, which is a downloadable VST plug-in available for $79.


Bias is also shifting its Deck multitrack mixing software to OS X shortly. Both Peak and Deck work with Apple's standard audio I/O interface and the Sound Manager driver. No additional audio hardware is required, although a number of Peak/Deck hardware/software packages are available. Peak LE, the consumer edition of Peak 3.0 for OS X/OS 9, is bundled with a variety of software. Expect to see Peak 3.0 LE included with Apple's Final Cut Pro 3.0.


Peak 3.0 is available for $499, while Peak LE costs $99. Available from Bias distributors, a range of upgrade options from previous versions of Peak are also available. Trial versions of various products are also downloadable. Peak 3.0 requires OS 8.5 or later.