BIAS today announced it has begun shipping Peak Pro 5.2, the Universal version of the industry standard Peak Pro audio editing software for Mac OS X version 10.4 “Tiger” on both Power PC and Intel-based Macs.
“We’re excited to be shipping our first Universal release,” said Christine Berkley, vice president and chief MARCOM officer at BIAS, Inc. “Many audio professionals were impressed by Peak’s power running on an Intel-based iMac when it was demonstrated earlier this year. Now those who depend on Peak every single day can experience for themselves the increased processing speed when running Peak Pro on an Intel-based Mac.”
“The blazing speed of the Core Duo processor in our Intel-based Macs provides a significant performance boost to all Universal applications running natively,” said Ron Okamoto, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “We’re thrilled BIAS is now shipping a Universal version of its Peak Pro application so audio professionals can take advantage of the excellent performance of Tiger on Intel-based Macs.”
The Universal version of Peak demonstrates significant performance increases on some of the most computationally-intensive audio processes.
For example, testing Sample Rate Conversion in Peak Pro 5.2 showed a nearly 130% performance increase running on an Intel-based MacBook Pro versus a 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4. When using Peak Pro 5.2’s acclaimed RMS Normalization DSP, a 66% performance increase was realized. In addition, the process of bouncing or rendering effects was also substantially faster using the Intel-based MacBook Pro. Rendering two instances of Apple’s Matrix Reverb Audio Units plug-in run in parallel within Peak Pro 5’s powerful Vbox effects routing environment, was nearly twice as fast on the Intel-based MacBook Pro than the 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4.
New Software-based Authorization System
While Peak Pro 5 required an included USB key in order to operate, version 5.2 now utilizes a non-hardware based method of copy protection, offering greater flexibility for customers interested in retaining the use of their USB ports for other peripherals. For Peak Pro 5 customers who prefer the USB key, version 5.2 retains this compatibility. Although Peak Pro 5.2 no longer requires or includes a USB key, customers may order it on request from BIAS should they desire a hardware alternative to the new software based authorization system.
Availability and Pricing
Peak Pro 5 and Peak LE 5 customers may download the update to version 5.2 directly from the BIAS website at no charge. Peak Pro XT 5 users may also update their license of Peak Pro 5 to version 5.2 at no charge via the BIAS website.
New retail editions of Peak LE 5.2 (SRP $129 US), Peak Pro 5.2 (SRP $599 US), and Peak Pro XT 5 (SRP $1199) are available through the worldwide network of authorized BIAS resellers and directly from BIAS. Free trial versions of Peak Pro 5.2 and Peak LE 5.2 are available now for download at the BIAS website. Upgrades from previous versions of Peak, special cross-grades, single academic editions, and academic lab packs are also available for purchase.
More information is available at the Bias site.
