Hi all,

Just tried to export to mp3 after doing one to wav, only to find the mp3 encoder has to be unlocked. I found the exe file for this on the installation disc, but get a message saying the shared utilities folder can't be found, please install your Cakewalk product etc.

After feeling a bit annoyed that there should be any need for this whatsoever, no info on how to unlock it (a few posts in the forums prompted me to try looking in the install disc) i now supposedly have no shared utilities folder when I most definately do.

Any ideas on what's gone amiss? Have been up all night recording/mixing, so have only trawlled the forum so far...

Thanks for any help

It is a $20 expense to unlock the MP3 encoder or install a free one and use the install that CW provides on the install DVD under the folder utilities.
Either way its easy. If you buy the encoder it will be available to you for all versions hence.

Cakewalk sucks big time for this. I downloaded Lame, which ok, is free, but you also need WinRaR to unzip it...which isn't free. Then, there's no clear indication on how to even install Lame once you've managed to unzip it after all that.

I am tired and perhaps a little irritated, but I'm not finding either way particularly easy, but more of a huge chore that I shouldn't need to be doing in the first place

Many feel as you do. Many like it as it is for not having to pay for something they don't need. There are tons of threads about this. It is simple really.

Cakewalk External Encoder Config Utility

The information in this article applies to:

* SONAR 4 Producer Edition
* SONAR 4 Studio Edition

SONAR 4 supports external command-line encoders, such as LAME, Ogg Vorbis, Monkey's Audio, etc. If an external command-line encoder is installed on your machine, the 'Cakewalk External Encoder Config' utility allows you to add the encoder to SONAR's list of available file formats when exporting audio (File-Export-Audio).

To use the utility, start SONAR and go to Tools-Cakewalk Ext Encoder Config, then specify the proper settings or the encoder you wish to use.

Note: the SONAR 4 CD-ROM includes several pre-defined profiles for various encoders. These profiles can be found in the \Utilities\External Encoder Profiles folder on CD1. You can use these profiles as a starting point when creating your own profiles. Simply double-click the appropriate .REG file to add the information to the Windows registry, then use the 'Cakewalk External Encoder Config' utility to specify the correct install path of the encoder.

Keywords: techkb, SR4, encoder

When you're paying £340 for music software, I doubt many would feel cheated for the inclusion of a $20 mp3 encoder that is easily used within Sonar, doesn't require downloading 3rd party applications, paying for software to unzip that software, then needing to program the damn thing after all that. I'm sure that not everyone uses absolutely every single added goody bundled with Sonar either, but I don't see any refunds heading through my letterbox any time soon!

Sorry John, I know you're trying to help and my comments are directed at Cakewalk, not you personally

I'm just not getting it. All I've got at the moment, is an unzipped version of Lame. No idea if it's installed, as I can't find an exe file. I've also had a go at trying to direct Sonar to it, via the external encoder option and I had thought it to have worked, but no...

I would pay the $20, but when I try to use the upgrade facility from the Install disc, I get told the shared utilities folder is missing...which it isn't - any ideas???

winrar is, shareware, you can safely use a trial version to unrar/zip whatever you like.

If cakewalk added $20 to the price of the software when they released it.. no one would have been any the more wiser.
And it could have been advertised with free mp3 plugin?

I have music creator 7 and purchased and downloaded the mp3 encoder activation. However it there is the activation download and the .exe download for the encoder. Says its still not activated and when i open the .exe file music creator 1 is the only option and it wont let me search for the correct one...