BIAS Peak Pro - 6.0.1

I'm the kind of guy who updates his gear pretty regularly. Since obtaining Peak Pro, I have installed/authorized then uninstalled/deauthorized it on at least 3 desktops/laptops. That's why a deauthorize option exists -- so you can legitimately move it from machine to machine when you upgrade or change your hardware, etc.

Yesterday, I bought a new MacBook Pro. When I tried to DEAUTHORIZE Peak from my old one, I received an alert telling me I couldn't because I had DEAUTHORIZED the program too many times!

Now, having just about every plug-in out there, plus plenty of other audio software and Adobe CS4, I am very familiar with the concept of limited AUTHORIZATIONS, but I have never heard of limiting DEAUTHORIZATIONS. The former prevents license fraud, but the latter enforces license adherence, so why incorporate such a lame and debilitating routine?

Of course, this happened on a holiday weekend, and the only instruction is to email Bias to see what they have to say about it. I guess a manual reset of the count or something. Who knows. I'm still waiting.

Sigh.

I have used this product since Peak version 4. I realise the current comments are focussing upon ver. 6 - but I must comment that I have used Peak, during live gigs, I have used it to master down to CD mix of my music, and currently I am using ver. 6 to master my weekly national radio program. Peak is a great product and the support is A1. I have had no issues with the current version. While I am currently upgrading to an iMac Core Duo, my current G4 handles peak 6 well, and believe me I am running too many top end apps and it tends to grind to a halt - but no issue with peak. I do use a variety of plug-ins and they have presented no problem. I do believe there is a small issue with the response of the metering - it does appear to have a small lag - but overall I find it hard to fault. If you are long time user of Peak you will find the interface not dissimilar to previous versions - which for a new user can be confusing (even overly complex), but like many pro apps it's a matter of diving in and using it over and over again. Suddenly it does make sense.

For my radio work, I have found the simple addition of the 'ducking' feature to be very useful. It was a pain in the butt previously in regard to layering voice overs, now it's a breeze. I love the seamless interface with Soundsoap Pro, which together make for a great suite for reviving old vinyl and cassette recordings, therefore it's great for archiving old material.

So in summary, I have used it professionally on stage, in a music recording studio and as the main tool for radio program production. I will continue to use it. I can't comment on why others are having problems - except to say it becomes necessary to keep your system uptodate and run utilities and programs like Techtool Pro (and other such programs) regularly. I have found that oiften minimises issues of program/plug-in crashes.