bias, a voltage, current, or other input applied to a device or system as a reference or to set its conditions of operation. A bias is usually steady but may vary with time, usually within a fixed and known range and with a fixed and known frequency. In electronics, the most common forms of bias are the voltage applied to the grid of an electron tube to set its operating conditions and the current applied to the base of a transistor to perform the same function. In tape recording, a bias current, usually alternating with a frequency in the ultrasonic range, is mixed with the signal to be recorded to minimize distortion produced by the tape itself.

Bias, fl. 6th cent. B.C., Greek sage, b. Priene. He is at best semilegendary but was called one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. Many epigrams were attributed to him by ancient writers.

Bias is a term used to describe a tendency or preference towards a particular perspective, ideology or result. All information and points of view can generate some form of bias. A person is generally said to be biased if a reasonable observer would conclude that the person is markedly influenced by inner biases, rendering it unlikely for them to be able to be objective. In careful usage bias refers to a belief that leads to a false judgment.

In practice

Bias may result from opining on a subject while holding a particular viewpoint on the subject, and not applying neutral point of view correction to the process, whether consciously or unconsciously. In practice, an accusation of bias often results from a perception of unacknowledged favoritism on the part of a critic or judge, or indeed any person in a position requiring the careful and disinterested exercise of arbitration or assessment. Any tendency to favour a certain set of values naturally lead to an uneven dispensation of judgment. It may also be noted that, if a person were to take their own preexisting view as a priori balanced without acknowledging their own personal inclinations, any person or organization that disagrees with their views is likely to be viewed as biased regardless of that person or organization's actual efforts at balance. It may be observed that bias is, in a sense, reflexive, unacknowledged or unrecognized bias potentially leading to its apprehension (with or without good reason) in others.

Effects of biases

A bias could lead one to accept or deny the truth of a claim, not on the basis of the strength of the arguments in support of the claim themselves, but because of the extent of the claim's correspondence with one's own preconceived ideas. This is called confirmation bias. it can change the results of certain results

Forms of biases

These are just a few popular ones.

• Class: bias favoring one social class and bias ignoring social or class divisions.
• Commercial: advertising, coverage of political campaigns favoring corporate interests, or reporting favoring media owner interests.
• Cognitive bias
• Cultural bias: interpreting and judging phenomena in terms particular to one's own culture.
• Ethnic or racial: racism, nationalism, regionalism and tribalism.
• CSB: describing a dispute as it is conducted in one country, when the dispute is framed differently elsewhere.
• Inductive bias
• Media bias: real or perceived bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media, in the selection of which events will be reported and how they are covered
• Nationalistic: favoring or opposing the interests or views of a particular nation.
• Gender: including sexism and heteronormativity.
• Linguistic: bias, favoring certain languages
• Political: bias in favor of or against a particular political party, philosophy, policy or candidate.
• Religious: bias for or against religion, faith or beliefs;
• Sensationalist: favoring the exceptional over the ordinary. This includes emphasizing, distorting, or fabricating exceptional news to boost commercial ratings.
• Scientific (including anti-scientific and scientific skepticism): favoring (or disfavoring) a scientist, inventor, or theory for non-scientific reasons. This can also include excessive favoring (or disfavoring) prevalent scientific opinion, if in doing so, notable viewpoints are no longer being treated neutrally.
• Statistical: one example is a biased sample.
• Systematic: bias resulting from a flaw integral to the system within which the bias arises (for example, an incorrectly calibrated thermostat may consistently read — that is 'be biased' — several degrees hotter or colder than actual temperature). As a consequence, systematic bias commonly leads to systematic errors, as opposed to random errors, which tend to cancel one another out.

See also

• Bias (textile)
• List of cognitive biases
• Scholarly method
• Source criticism
• Weasel words

External links

BIAS (originally known as Berkley Integrated Audio Software) is a privately held corporation based in Petaluma, California.

History

Composer/software engineer Steve Berkley initially created Peak for editing the samples used in his musical compositions. Peak started out as a utility for transferring content ("samples") from a hardware sampler to a Macintosh computer, editing the samples, and returning them to the sampler for playback/performance. Word of this new utility spread quickly, and soon colleagues were requesting copies to use themselves. Features were requested and implemented – more features requested and implemented, and the utility evolved into a commercial sample editing application, “Peak”, which remains as BIAS’ flagship product to this day. BIAS Inc. was founded in 1994 in Sausalito, California, by Steve and Christine Berkley.

Products

Peak

Peak is a full-featured professional stereo sample editor – and BIAS’ flagship product.

Peak’s approach to editing differs from most DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) applications, as it edits directly at the file level. Rather than creating a “session” or “project” and then importing the audio files to be edited, Peak opens files directly. Once a file has been edited as desired, it is simply saved, rather than having to be “bounced” or exported from a session/project. This fundamental difference from a DAW is what gives Peak the ability to edit digital audio so quickly. Its focused editing environment makes it a complementary tool to many DAWs, video editing, and multimedia applications that offer limited editing features. Peak is offered in a full-featured professional edition (Peak Pro), a basic edition (Peak LE), and a limited-feature edition often included with other manufacturer’s hardware/software products (Peak Express). Peak runs on Mac OS X computer systems.

SoundSoap

SoundSoap is a noise reduction/audio restoration plug-in and stand-alone application. SoundSoap is designed to remove unwanted clicks, crackles, pops, hum, rumble, and broadband noise (such as tape hiss and HVAC system noise). It offers “one-click” noise reduction, and may also be manually fine-tuned for optimal results. SoundSoap includes Audio Units, DirectX, RTAS/AudioSuite, and VST plug-in formats, as well as a stand-alone edition – and runs on Mac OS X and Windows XP computer systems.

SoundSoap Pro

SoundSoap Pro is a professional-level noise reduction/audio restoration plug-in. It is based on the same advanced technology as SoundSoap, but offers a much more advanced user interface, with the ability to access and fine-tune many parameters not available in the standard version. In addition to removing clicks, crackles, pops, hum, rumble, and broadband noise (such as tape hiss and HVAC system noise), SoundSoap Pro also features an integrated noise gate. SoundSoap Pro includes Audio Units, RTAS/AudioSuite, and VST plug-in formats – and runs on Mac OS X and Windows XP computer systems.

Master Perfection Suite

This suite of six effects processing plug-ins offers numerous features for mastering, sound design, and general audio processing.

Plug-ins included:

• GateEx – a noise gate and downward expander
• PitchCraft – pitch correction/transposition with formant change
• Sqweez-3 & -5 - multiband linear phase compressor/limiter
• Reveal – 7-in-1 analysis tool, with oscilloscope, peak/RMS power history, peak/RMS metering,

spectral analyzer, spectrogram, phase scope, and pan power metering

• SuperFreq – 4, 6, 8, & 10 band paragraphic equalizers
• RepliQ – Linear phase EQ/spectral matching

The Master Perfection Suite is included with Peak Pro XT, and runs on Mac OS X computer systems.

Deck

Deck is a simple multitrack DAW (digital audio workstation) designed for working with digital audio. While Deck offers limited MIDI features – such as MIDI control of the integrated transport and mixing console, and the ability to import and play back a MIDI file in sync with digital audio – it is not a MIDI sequencing application. Deck excels in recording analog audio sources, such as musical instruments and microphones – as well as in multimedia and post-production, where its QuickTime foundation allows it to synchronize with digital video and QuickTime movies for mono, stereo, and 5.1 surround sound mixing. Two editions are offered: “Deck” – a full-featured professional DAW, and “Deck LE” – a limited feature, entry level DAW – both run on Mac OS 8.6, Mac OS 9, and Mac OS X computer systems.

Product timeline

1/96 – Peak 1.0 debuts at NAMM show in Anaheim, CA.
11/96 – BIAS Introduces Peak LE – entry level stereo editor
1/97 – SFX Machine 1.0 multi-effects plug-in introduced
9/98 – BIAS acquires Deck DAW from Macromedia
12/98 – Peak 2.0 introduced – adds DAE, TDM, AudioSuite, QuickTime movie, Premiere plug-in support, and CD burning
8/99 – BIAS Brings Peak to BeOS
1/00 – Peak 2.1 adds ASIO driver support – expands compatibility with third-party audio hardware
9/00 – Peak 2.5 introduced – adds VST plug-in support
1/01 – Deck 2.7 adds ASIO driver support – expands compatibility with third-party audio hardware
1/01 – BIAS introduces Deck LE – entry level DAW
7/01 – BIAS introduces Deck 3.0 – adds real-time VST plug-in support
8/01 – Vbox 1.0 effect plug-in routing matrix introduced
11/01 – Peak DV 3.0 introduced – first pro audio application for Mac OS X
1/02 – Peak and Peak LE 3.0 introduced – run on Mac OS 8.6, 9.x, X
1/02 – BIAS introduces SuperFreq paragraphic equalizer plug-in for Mac OS 8.6, 9.x, X
6/02 – BIAS introduces Deck 3.5 – the first professional DAW to run on Mac OS X adds 5.1 surround mixing
7/02 – Entire BIAS product line now runs on Mac OS X
8/02 – BIAS introduces Vbox 1.1 – runs on Mac OS X and Windows operating systems
12/02 – BIAS introduces SoundSoap – runs on Mac OS X and Windows XP operating systems
8/03 – Peak 4.0 introduced – adds direct CD burning, Audio Unit support, sample-based ImpulseVerb, and Sqweez compressor plug-in
5/04 – SoundSoap Pro introduced – runs on Mac OS X and Windows XP
10/04 – SoundSoap 2 introduced – adds Click & Crackle removal, audio enhancement, and Audio Unit/RTAS/DirectX formats, drag and drop file support
8/05 – BIAS introduces Peak Pro 5 – adds industry-leading sample rate conversion and graphical waveform view to playlist, DDP export capability
9/05 – BIAS introduces Peak Pro XT & Peak LE 5 – XT power bundle includes Peak Pro 5, SoundSoap 2, SoundSoap Pro, and Master Perfection Suite plug-ins
6/06 – Peak 5.2 introduced – Universal version runs natively on PPC and Intel-based Macintosh computers
11/06 – SoundSoap 2.1 introduced – Universal version runs natively on PPC and Intel-based Macintosh computers

External links

• BIAS Website
• BIAS User Discussion Forum