I activated the MP3 Encoder...

I decided to get the MP3 Encoder activated in Sonar because it works so well for me. I have Audition so I could encode mp3's there but I don't want to. I like the idea of just staying within the Sonar program to generate mp3's. It's so simple to use once you've gone thru it. I'm planning on making lots of mp3's so this will be a time saver for me.

It's nice to have it all together in one place.

I'm surprised not more people are using LAME in Sonar - it's free and I had the impression it was the standard?

djwayne - I haven't tried the MP3 Encoder yet. Seems like a no brainer to add that. I was wondering if any of the tools along the way to the final MP3 output allow you to put in the various classifications - like who it's composed by, the year, etc. Do you have anything like that as part of your MP3 output workflow?

I was wondering if any of the tools along the way to the final MP3 output allow you to put in the various classifications - like who it's composed by, the year, etc.

 
Yes. When activated the Cakewalk MP3 Encoder allows you to input all the mp3 tag information, such as author, year, genre. etc..

Its a matter of licencing. Cakewalk gives you the option of paying. Programs that include an mp3 encoder have to note somewhere in their documentation that licence fees have been paid to various organizations for the use of codecs etc eg for mpeg 2 or 3 encoding. you pay that fee with every version whether you know it or not.

Cakewalk's method allows you to opt in if you want but pay only once when you do as the decoder will work continuously as you upgrade through the years say to X2 X3 X4 and so on. I paid once and used it for many many years already. It's actually thoughtful on their part and saves the end user money in the long run.

Actually no question was asked in the original post. I provided information that wasn't fully covered in any other posts and was a direct answer to "bladetragic" who's post is above mine. 

I included the information as there often is a question about why the Cakewalk provided mp3 encoder is a pay for addon. When or if folks do a search on the sunject then this thread will now contain all the uptodate and correct info.