Integrate Lame or other encoder in Sonar is very simple and works .
 
The Cakewalk Encoder is very cheap and give you the option to set some parameters and ID3 tag on the fly.
Cakewalk also using Lame-Encoder, so you have the same good quality of lame-mp3. But, I really don't understand the reason why Cakewalk sells this and don't give it as free.
 
It's a shame that Platinum or Professional users have to pay extra $10 for mp3 encoding.
 
_Markus
 

Sanderxpander
That's actually a setting in iTunes that you can turn on or off. Personally I really like it as it's a convenient way to sort stuff on disk.

it might have changed, idk...when I had it that was my most serious concern and found others echoing same while trying to resolve it. for me the issue is moot as wimamp does the job.
 

Looking at the features of the new Sonar 2015, the only converter offered is through soundcloud.
That's more then likely the reason I didn't get the 30 day free converter option.
I found the encoder at the Cakewalk store but it says it's for X3 and a few other older products.
So I guess I'm hanging at the moment.

The store page needs to be updated. The unlock process did not change from X3 to Platinum.

scook
The store page needs to be updated. The unlock process did not change from X3 to Platinum.

ok thanks

LaszloZoltan

Sanderxpander
That's actually a setting in iTunes that you can turn on or off. Personally I really like it as it's a convenient way to sort stuff on disk.

it might have changed, idk...when I had it that was my most serious concern and found others echoing same while trying to resolve it. for me the issue is moot as wimamp does the job.
 

As far as I know it has been this way since iTunes 1 on MacOS9. However I agree it is pretty annoying that it does this without asking and you have to know that it is a setting you can change. I hate it when something like that happens when you don't expect it. Pretty hard to undo too.

Well I installed the 9.99 CW encoder, I set it to the highest levels all around and seems to work nice.
Though with all the hubbub about the quality of the mp3 files, is there a huge difference in mp3 encoders? 

Whenever quality is your main concern, don't use mp3, period. Other than that, for quick mix sharing, sticking with the higher quality ones is fine regardless of which encoder you use. Ideally you'd use VBR but the Cakewalk encoder doesn't report the length of the song correctly if you do, which may or may not be an issue for you.

In my opinion I think some encoders are better than others. I never had great results from cakewalks encoder, but it worked ok. I have tested out a few over the years. My favorite software for encoding wav to mp3 is Sound Forge. I just get a higher quality conversion with it.
 
Some may disagree and say they are all the same. I think this might be one of those personal preference things. 

Marcus Curtis

Sanderxpander
I honestly think it's about time Cakewalk included this. I understand that it will add slightly to the expense but it's a really, really common need and if they'd include it they might actually feel obliged to do some upkeep and fix issues. I bought it but never use it because it doesn't report song length correctly.

I have Cakewalk's encoder too, but I never use it for the same reasons. I got Sound forge when I purchased Sony Vegas. I use it to make my wave file an mp3. Way back when I had Sonar 5 I had encoder issues but when Sonar 8 came out these issues were resolved for some reason. I still use Sound Forge because I think it does a better job encoding.

Same thing with me exactly. I use Sony Sound Forge to create my MP3's ... feel the same way that somehow it comes out better.