After waiting for almost 8 months and looking for MP3 encoder, I settled to unlock Sonar's built in MP3 encoder. Today- I needed to convert .wav file of my song to MP3 to upload on a profile. OMG- this took almost forever! So the song (.wav) opens with Windows Music. I used "Open With". Sonar was not on a list. Eventually found it, and... Guess what- it could not open it's own file that it created. It said- my file must be corrupted or damaged. So I had to open Sonar manually and import the file in to it. Guess what: I had time to go on Cakewalk site, log in to the forum, type this message, and it still did not finish to build a preview track. (There is a place holder but the wav would not materialize.). I keep talking with you, while it still can not open or import its own file. So how long it going to be before it actually converts it to MP3? I was looking for a converter that would just do it without drama. Opening Sonar itself is a big deal- it needs to scan plug ins, then it needs to check for Audio. Midi devices and tell me what I have and do not have connected, then I have to create new song, then import .wav and then hope- it will convert it to the MP3. I have no time for this. Is there a better way? Thank you.

Ummmm... The mp3 encoder allows you to choose mp3 as file type when you want to export your song. So I'd try that if I were you. The way you are trying to do isn't actually the way to do it...

 
Hi there
 
I think you're getting a little confused here. SONAR doesn't actually 'open' .wav files as such, it is designed to open, for example - Cakewalk project (.cwp) and bundle (.cwb) files, among others.
 
To 'open' a .wav file, you'll first have to open SONAR and then use File>Import>Audio. Then, to create your mp3, use the File>Export>Audio dialogue.
 
Although this will work, it's a rather convoluted process, and I'm guessing that most of us would actually use a 3rd party mp3 encoder to convert .wav files on our hard drive; I'd imagine that the mp3 encoder incorporated inside SONAR is really there to export project mixes if they are required in that format.
 
I use the excellent, and free, CDex software to convert .wav fies to mp3, although there are other good free ones available.

vladasyn
 Opening Sonar itself is a big deal- it needs to scan plug ins

You can turn this off quite easily in Options menu.
 
As others have said, you are going the wrong way about doing the mp3 thing.

I know about the plug ins and opening a project and importing. It just that we were discussing it here, trying to figure out what MP3 converter to get and came to conclusion that Sonar's native converter would be easiest- I did not think about reverse process when I will need to open wav file from the hard drive and convert it to MP3- it is a pain. I have tried those few most- commonly advised free once- I was not able to install the codes- it was full of span and adware and was asking me to listen some people's music... I want to buy one and have no drama- so I bought Cakewalks Sonar's. And it was bad spent $20- got nothing out of it. Any better ideas would be appreciated- except Audacity- did not work for me- needed that code that I could not install. Thanks.

Given that Audacity is probably the widest used freeware audio editor, if you cannot install it then you very likely have a problem with your machine.
 

Actually, rather than me trying to re-explain this process, check out this video on YouTube, showing how to export to mp3 directly from Sonar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lRbRr-0wwjQ#t=369
Sometimes it's easier to be shown ;) The video jumps to the relevant part. It's made for total noobs, but shows the mp3 encoder integration towards the end, where this link points to.
 
So, you can either do this directly when exporting your project - works very well! Or you can open Sonar, drag and drop your .wav-file into the track view, click on it so it is selected and choose export ->mp3 -> set quality and ID3 tags. It really should be easy and if you have the mp3 encoder, you shouldn't have to use additional software. That's why i bought the mp3 encoder upgrade, and I feel it's saving me a ton of irritation and boredom
 
 
EDIT:: Seems like the video doesn't skip to where I want it to because of the stupid ad break at the beginning, but jump to 6:10 and you'll find what I wanted to show you Best of luck!

I use Goldwave with the Lame converter. All free!!

I use the wavepad free converter.   http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/index.html
 
The DL is free and then shuts off after 10 days or so.... but there is an option to continue using it with limited options working. The options that continue to work are MP3 conversion and trimming as well as a few other useful things.

The Cakewalk MP3 encoder is intended for use in EXPORTING audio from within projects.
 
If you have a wave file you want to convert directly into an MP3, as noted there are a bunch of free ones out there.
 
I happen to use one I got from downloads.com (run by CNET magazine), called YTD Video Downloader.
 
I use this one to do 2 functions.  Firstly, it allows me to download video clips from sites like YouTube, which is great.  Secondly, this program has a Convert function, which allows me to take any music or video file on my computer and convert it to any of the other supported formats (which is most or all of them).  It works quite quickly - perhaps 30 seconds to 1 minute at the most to convert a wave file to MP3.
 
If you go to downloads.com and search for YTD Video Download and DO download and install it, CNET CERTIFIES that any software obtained from their site is virus free, HOWEVER you have to pay attention in the install process, as it will almost ALWAYS have pre-checked boxes for including extra software, so make sure you look for any such extra stuff and remove any checks for any of that.  Once you do that, installs run clean and after literally over 100 downloads from them I have never once incurred any viruses in any software from their site.
 
Bob Bone