Importing wav/Exporting MP3

There is a thread in this forum addressing CWENC and the inability to get it to function in Sonar4.

Apparently you can get LAME to function using a "work-around". But setting up the command line parameters using the suggested programming language is a bit above my head and it exceeds my comfort level, so I've created my own method of "work-around".

In addition to Sonar4 I also have a copy of Music Creator installed on my computer. CWENC works well for me in Music Creator.

If I create a project in Sonar4 and then export that project as a wav file, I can then open Music Creator and import that wav file. From Music Creator I can then export that wav file as an MP3 file using CWENC. I know it's taking a few extra steps but it seems to work for me.

My question is:

Will the resulting MP3 file that is created using the above method have a lesser quality sound than an MP3 file that is created directly from the original project file from within Sonar4 using LAME? (Assuming, of course, that both were created using the same sound quality settings.)

Thanks for response ed_mcg.

The link to the thread that you posted is the same thread that I was referring to. But working in DOS is tough for me. Also the command line parameters that are provided, so you can cut and paste, are for "variable" bit rate at a High quality & just below High quality setting. I was using a "constant" bit rate setting of 160 because not all folks have a computer set up with high speed internet access and I think this will enable them to download the MP3 file more easily.

But you are correct, it is more combersome using my method. However it works for me. I just didn't know if my method produced a lesser quality MP3 file because I'm taking a project file, exporting it to a wav file, then importing that wav file into another project file, and then exporting that to an MP3 file. I didn't know if it losses quality anywhere along the chain.

Anyway, it sounds like you're telling me it won't lose sound quality and that's a good thing.

Thanks again ed_mcg!