PT LE to Bias Peak?

[phanatik]

Has any1 used Bias Peak to "master" mix their songs after mixing in PT? We're thinking of purchasing Bias' 2-track editor. Is it worth it? Or could i just do the same thing bussing the tracks down 2 a stereo track, open a new session and do it there? what are, if any, the pros n cons of this situation?

[RinnyTin]

I would do your mastering in Pro Tools, and the advantage is that you can use your plug-ins for mastering. Peak is great for editing the tops and tails of songs quickly, or dividing files into parts, doing batch bit rate conversions, stuff like that. Definitely worth having, check out the demo.

http://www.bias-inc.com/downloads/freeTrials/

[phanatik]

thnx RinnyTin

has any1 used Peak 4, instead of PT for "mastering?"

[Jeff D.]

I've used peak since the 1.x versions. I use it mostly for quickie mastering, and then trimming heads and tails as mentioned above. It really speeds up handling of stereo files, and the MP3 converter is excellent.

The mastering plug-ins that are included with it aren't really high end mastering plugs. You'll need to add some to get what you are looking for. However, if you have the Waves bundles for ProTools, you can install the Waveshell VST and use them within Peak (Waveshell VST is free with your Waves plugs).

Also, the way the program works is descended from Sound Designer. It's playlist based - so you make a playlist that is to be your CD, then you assign VST plugs to each song in the playlist. You can jump around and audition the songs and transitions, but ther is a slight delay while the next song's plug-in settings are loaded. When satisfied, you hit "burn CD" and Peak makes a CD of the playlist, VST plugins applied. Quick and painless!

I find ProTools easier to use for levels and transitions. I put each song on a separate pair of tracks and processs them separately. Being able to jump around in the session from the loudest point of each song makes level setting easier. However, once you've bounced to disc you have this big stereo file that needs to be chopped up into songs for the CD. Peak is great for that; it has an "snap to zero crossings" feature that eliminates pops at song boundaries, even on live albums which are one continuous sound file.

I couldn't do without Peak for my one man studio workflow. However, Peak seems to be you-love-it-or-you-hate-it software; definitely try before you buy!

Jeff D.

[kurt]

When you bounce from PT, are you bouncing to 16 bits? Dither?

[Jeff D.]

When only editing in Peak, I bounce out as 16 bit, already dithered.

When mastering in Peak, I bounce out as 24 bit. Peak has PowR dither built in, and you can choose to use it when making your 16 bit CD from a 24 bit playlist. It's easy, and it makes you feel like you've not compromised your audio even though you're doing quickie mastering and CD burning.

Jeff D.

[kurt]

OK. My fault.
I will still master in PT. What I'm tired of is that I have to bounce e.g. 16 tunes one by one.

However, once you've bounced to disc you have this big stereo file that needs to be chopped up into songs for the CD.

So; I can take my 24bits bounced, (no dither), one big file in Peak, chopp it in 16 to pieces, apply 16 bit Pwr dhitter & burn the CD? No bounce again? So fast !!!

[Jeff D.]

Yes, Here's my procedure:

- Start your bounce in PT. Bounce to 16 bit (or 24 bit if you prefer) stereo interleaved, SDII format, 44.1khz. Convert during bounce (that way if you're going to have an error, it will happen in the first few minutes instead of at the end of the bounce)
- Listen for a few minutes to make sure everything is as it should be
- Go to lunch
- Return to find bounce completed
- Load bounced file into PEAK
- Divide the file into regions w/the "edit at zero crossings" option turned on so that you don't have to worry about pops when placing a region boundary in the middle of audio (between songs on a live album, for example).
- Drag the regions into a playlist
- Press the "Burn CD" icon
- Surf the DUC, or prepare a CD label while the CD is burning

Poof! You have a CD in faster-than-real-time (except for the going to lunch part).

Jeff D.

[kurt]

- Drag the regions into a playlist
- Press the "Burn CD" icon

What version of Peak are we talking about?

[Jeff D.]

Peak 4, full version (not LE or DV). I haven't used the LE or DV versions.

Peak 3 worked the same way except it didn't automatically convert 24 bit playlists to 16 bit, you had to do it manually using "Save As..." or do it within PT. And you had to use Toast or Jam to burn the CD that Peak prepared.

Jeff D.