light mastering program?

[surrenderband]

I just mixed a live performance cd. i am not going to send it off to get mastered b/c its a low budget thing, but i would like the volume (or i guest the "average volume") of each song to match. Is there a cheap way to do this? i stumbled on a program called Peak LE for 99bucks. It mentioned mastering but could find any more details about that. Please help .thanks in advance.

[Frodo]

Bias Peak seems to be among the first words in Mastering. I've never used it, but here are some specs:

Ultra-Affordable Two-Track Editing!
Peak LE 5 is impressively powerful, with all of Peak's essential tools - at an amazingly affordable price.

No doubt you've heard BIAS Peak at work - because when it comes to serious audio for the Mac, more Hollywood sound designers, music and radio producers, video editors, and other professionals depend on Peak than any other stereo editing application. And now, with Peak LE 5, you get all the essential features of Peak at an amazing value.

With Peak LE 5, you can quickly edit and create your own custom MP3 music mixes. Convert your vinyl or cassette collection to CDs in just a few simple steps. Optimize audio for the Web. Record a professional-quality narration for a PowerPoint presentation. Create perfect dance remixes, drum loops, and sound samples. Then, when you're ready, burn your own replication-ready audio CDs.

Simply put, Peak LE 5 makes great-sounding audio easy - at a price that sounds every bit as good.


BIAS Peak LE 5 Features:
Fastest & most intuitive waveform editing available on any platform
Bit depths up to 24-bit
Sample rates up to 96kHz
Altivec enhanced
Display multiple document windows simultaneously
Unlimited Undo/Redo with graphic edit history
User-definable display size & color
Record audio directly or import all QuickTime-compatible audio formats
Preview & import entire CD Tracks - or portions of tracks
Create sample-accurate loops quickly and easily
Supports built-in Mac I/O, plus OS X and Core Audio-compatible audio hardware
Playlist with fully-integrated Redbook (Disk-At-Once/DAO) CD burning
DSP toolset includes Fade In/Out, Normalize, Gain Envelope, Reverse, Convert Sample Rate, Mix, and more
Easily create, edit & read region, loop & reference markers
Support for one real-time Audio Unit plug-in
Support for one real-time VST plug-in*
Over 10 VST audio effects plugins bundled free
Includes BIAS Freq 2-band paragraphic EQ VST plug-in
Read/write multiple file formats - even MP3 and AAC (MP4)
Trigger playback & cueing of up to 10 audio documents using Mac keyboard

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For the sake of comparison, here are the specs on Bias Peak XT:

BIAS Peak Audio Editing Software at a Glance:
Powerhouse package with intuitive operation and pro features
XT Extended Technology edition includes SoundSoap and new Mastering Plug-ins
New Peak Pro 5 includes dozens of enhancements
Great for creating dance loops and remixes
SFX Machine LT adds loads of effects power

Powerhouse package with intuitive operation and pro features
Peak's user interface has always been refreshingly clear, with fast, intuitive graphic waveform editing (including the new Magic Pencil that eradicates pops and clicks). Plus, we (ahem) older engineers will appreciate the ability to resize toolbar buttons up to four times their original size - our tired eyes thank you! When it comes to file compatibility, Peak Pro can import and export in any of 14 formats, including MP3 and AAC. Built-in POW-r dithering makes sure that bit reduction is smooth and musical, and you can burn Red Book CDs directly from Peak Pro's Playlist window or assemble your tracks with crossfades and gain adjustments for burning with the included Roxio Jam 6 software.

Includes SoundSoap and new mastering plug-ins
BIAS Peak Pro XT 5 includes Peak Pro 5 - the industry standard stereo audio editing, processing, and mastering application for Macintosh - plus the highly acclaimed SoundSoap restoration plug-in, and the new Master Perfection Suite: Pitchcraft, Reveal, SuperFreq, Repli-Q, Sqweez-3 & -5 and GateEx. Plus, Peak Pro XT 5 offers it all at an amazing price!

New Peak Pro 5 includes dozens of enhancements
BIAS Peak Pro is now better than ever! New features include an advanced graphical Playlist, with fully Red Book-compliant (ISRC and Pq subcode editing) direct CD burning, CD-TEXT, Vbox 2.0 (now with AU and virtual instrument support), plus amazing sample-rate conversion, tempo, and pitch change tools. Your workflow will be more efficient thanks to custom Snap-To options, Auto-Define tracks, Strip Silence, automatic plug-in latency compensation, and many more improvements. The ImpulseVerb sample-based reverb includes over 230MB of sampled spaces. Peak Pro also features the new BIAS Freq version 2.0 EQ, BIAS Sqweez compressor/limiter, and 25 other VST plug-ins.

Bias Peak Pro 5 New Features:
Simultaneous document viewing with window tiling
Multithreaded processing and MP optimized
Unlimited Undo/Redo with graphic edit histories
Customizable display, key commands, tool bar
Read and write region, loop and reference markers
New BIAS Sqweez compressor/limiter plug-in
BIAS Freq v. 2.0 4-band paragraphic EQ


Great for creating dance loops and remixes
From serious sound design for film, video, or multimedia, to rapid-fire broadcast editing, to music production limited only by your imagination, Peak Pro 5 does it better than anything else. Create unique dance loops and remixes. Optimize audio for Internet streaming. Dust off that pile of vinyl records and convert them to CDs, ultra-portable AAC (MP4) or MP3 files, or to just about any other audio file format on Earth. Craft soundtracks or fix audio problems for digital video. Maximize your music's sonic quality - and then burn your own replication-ready audio CDs.

Peak Pro 5 includes SFX Machine LT
SFX Machine LT adds even more sound design power to Peak Pro 5 by including 21 appropriately named presets from the popular SFX Machine RT such as Multi-Vox 3, RoboTalk, BackwardsFragment 5, Jimi Echo, Triggered Wah+Dist, and more. A popular "Randomize" feature is also included and you may upgrade to the full edition of SFX Machine at a discount. Combining SFX Machine LT with Peak Pro 5's already impressive DSP toolset offers a substantial benefit to both serious sound designers and casual users alike.


BIAS Peak Audio Editing Software Features:
Fastest and most powerful nondestructive and destructive sample accurate mono and stereo editing, processing, and CD mastering application for OS X
Simultaneous document viewing with window tiling
Multithreaded processing and MP optimized
Unlimited Undo/Redo with graphic edit histories
Customizable display, key commands, tool bar
Reads/Writes AIFF, SDII, QuickTime, MP3, MP4, WAVE, AU, Sonic AIFF, JAM Image, Raw, DDP (optional), and more
Supports built-in Mac I/O and Core Audio compatible hardware
Read and write region, loop and reference markers
Integrated DSP Toolset, including Fade In/Out, Normalize, Gain Envelope, Reverse, Invert, Harmonic Rotate, ultra-accurate POW-r dithering, Convolve, Mix, Change Pitch, Panner, Find Peak, Invert, Strip Silence and more
Professional 100% Red-Book CD Mastering playlist featuring advanced waveform views, crossfades, real-time effects, PQ sub-codes, ISRC, CD Text and more.
Ultra-high quality real-time and off-line sample rate conversion
Up to 32-bit/10MHz sampling rate, including 24-bit/96KHz
Advanced looping tools including the highly acclaimed Loop Surfer, LoopTuner, Crossfade Loop and Guess Tempo
AU and VST effects and instrument support with automatic latency compensation
Dozens of high-quality VST effects plug-ins free plus AU effects from OS X
Includes BIAS Sqweez compressor/limiter plug-in and BIAS Freq 4-band paragraphic EQ
Includes SFX Machine LT plug-in with 21 real-time special effects
Advanced VST/AU plug-in routing matrix via integrated Vbox SE
Automated Repair Clicks and Remove DC Offset
ImpulseVerb applies real room ambiance, with over 150 included spaces
Integrated Batch Processor
Change Duration DSP with Tempo Envelope and Transient mode - high-quality time compression/expansion without affecting pitch or smearing attacks
Recording notepad and timer
Threshold function automatically divides files by amplitude
Trigger playback and cueing of up to 10 audio documents using Mac keyboard
Advanced QuickTime/DV support with sample accurate synchronization
Auto-Define Tracks - divides LP/Tape recordings into single tracks for easy CD burning, export to iTunes, and more
Use standalone or integrated as an external editor launched from Deck, Digital Performer, Live, Final Cut Pro, and others
Over 300MB of high-quality loops from PowerFX and Sound-FX-Design

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Bias Peak also has an add-on bundle of plugins called Master Perfection Suite that includes EQ's, compression, pitch correction, gates, and audio analysis, etc.

Other Mac Mastering Bundles:

iZotope Ozone
http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/

IK Multimedia T-Racks 24
http://www.t-racks.com/Main.html?prod_TR_24

TC Electronics-- various mastering tools
http://www.tcelectronic.com/

TC Master X for TC Powercore
http://www.tcelectronic.com/Default.asp?Id=2710

Wave/WaveArts Power Suite
http://www.wavearts.com/

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Granted, someone else will likely chime in with other recommendations--

-- and all of these manufacturers vary greatly in price. Peak XT is, for example, about 9 times the cost of Peak LE.

The best thing to do is give the features a good comparison for features and price to see what will work best for you.

Good luck.

[Macinbowl]

I second Frodo with Peak. Great app. Easy to use and even the LE version is packed with useful features.

Mat

[mhschmieder]

I own BIAS Peak, but Wavelab is WAY WAY better, both in terms of GUI design and feature set; not to mention performance. Too bad it is Windows-only. If you have a Wintel Mac, you might consider it.

One of the problems with Peak is that it is so CPU intensive and so SLOW. I have to use iTunes to do MP3 conversions as Peak takes twenty minutes just to convert a one minute snippet.

Still, I love the product, because it is my first stereo editor. I downloaded Audacity earlier and it doesn't do enough. But It's way faster, so for quick and dirty jobs it's sometimes still my first choice.

[mikebeckmotu]

20 minutes? Wow! It usually only takes me about 3 minutes on my Powerbook using Peak Pro 5 - and that's for a three minute song.

I like Peak, but I sometimes miss SoundForge from the PC. After all, it was my first WAV editor.