I agree... I always encode at 192 if not better if possible... As for an encoder... CD-EX is a free encoder that lets you choose the bit rate and it comes with LAME... it is the easiest encoder I've used and it'll even transfer an mp3 back to wav (why you would do that for listening purposes I don't know... although I have had software samplers that only took wavs and I had soomething I wanted to sample in mp3 format so I converted it to wav and used it...) OH YEAH DID MENTION ITS FREE!!!!!!! Google it... i think its at sourceforge


Mike

I woundnt say I'm confused. I understand that the higher the bit rate the better. But there is one small difference you did not see in my post. If I use Sound Forge 7, which is no longer available, and encode at 64 bit and compare the quality of what I hear in the MP3 encoded out of Sonar, at 128 or even 192, the Sound Forge sounds better. As a matter of fact the Sonar LAME encoding at 128 is absolutely terrible.

Here is how I do the Sonar LAME export.
Open Project in Sonar 5 PE.
File/Export
Pick MP3 format
Set to 16bit and 128.
Highest quaility
Type in copyright stuff
Export
It creates MP3, sucks.

For Sound Forge its a bit more complex.
Open Project in Sonar 5PE
File Export
Set to 16 Bit 44100
Pick WAV
Export
Open Sound Forge and open Export.wav
Pick Save as
Choose MP3
Choose Highest
Set to 64
Type in Copyright Stuff
Save to MP3 file. Not perfect but a better quaility that Sonar Lame 128 described above.

I even tried importing the WAV file exported and used in Sound Forge, in Sonar 5 PE, and exporting to MP3, but the quaility is still about the same.

Is there any way to setup and use a different MP3 encoder with Sonar. I don't want the extra steps, and one day Sound Forge will refuse to work.

The LAME encoder is FREE and even Scott R. Garrigus, or was it Craig Anderton, well one of them wrote an article on how to configure Sonar to use the Lame MP3 encoder. Also, when you upgrade, from an earlier version of Sonar and allow Sonar to copy its settings, the MP3 settings are copied to the next version as well.

Follow these directions:

If you don't want to unlock(buy) the cakewalk mp3 encoder, you can invoke the Lame mp3 encoder directly from SONAR 3, 4, 5. With this you don't need to first export to wav and then encode to mp3. Remember that the Lame mp3 encoder is high quality, open source and free.

Download and install the lame 3.96.1 (STABLE) encoder. ~~~~> HERE <~~~~~
If you want to select your own version of a Lame encoder, download from the ~~~> LAME ENCODER SITE <~~~~

Instructions:
Open SONAR 3, 4, 5 and go to Tools -> Cakewalk Ext. Encoder Config.
In the Friendly Name Field write: Lame Mp3 Encoder.
In the Extension field write: .mp3
In the Description field write whatever you want.
In the Path field write the path where the Lame encoder is located. That is where lame.exe and lame_enc.dll are located. I keep my Lame encoder in my C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Utilities\Lame Folder or (copy and past the extracted zip file to your Sonar shared utilities folder and then when you have to perform this step, click the browse button to find the location.
In the Command Line field write: lame -b 192 -m j %I %O
Press Save button.
Uncheck Keep Wave File.

This will export to a 192Kbps, joint stereo mp3 file. If you want 128Kbps, replace 192 with 128 in the Command Line field. The next time you click on File->Export->Audio in SONAR 3, 4, 5 you'll find 'Lame mp3 encoder' as a type of audio.

Hope this helps,

Peace

These are PODCast for a studio project I'm working on. We are taking each song and creating one PODCast for the Acostic Concept of the song, one for the Music Development, one for the Music and Vocal/Lyric marriage (the demo). Once all the material is constructed for the song, we'll come back and do another PODCast for that song for the Final Recording and one for the Final Mixing (Production). We are numbering the songs 101 (demo), 102 (music), 103 (demo) and 104, 105 later on. The next song is 201, 202, 203, etc. You see the idea, I hope.

The 101 - 103 PODCasts were 15 Minutes long each. It was in MONO, as the Acostic version had little more than guitar and vocals. There is opening music (theme song), 8 minutes of talking about the song, 3 minutes of music and then more talking and the theme music to take us to 15 minutes. The files were about 8MB

PODCast 20x and on were shortened to 10 minutes. The files are now a more managable 5MB in size. Only X01 is mono, the others are stereo. We post them up on the artists website as seperate MP3 files and we have a RSS file setup for thoses with IPODS that want to subscribe to the PODCast.

Lastly, one of the casts was 25 minutes long, in mono. The artist was in the studio talking about his life, trials and tribulations, so it got a bit long. We want to encourage downloading, so the smaller the better. Plus, we want to keep the quality a bit down, to encourage people to buy the CD release.

Hope that answers your question.

Regards,

Thanks. Very nice instructions. I'll follow them and see if I get better results.

Thanks

ORIGINAL: joseph.barron

Thanks. Very nice instructions. I'll follow them and see if I get better results.

Thanks

Let us know how it compares to Sound Forge, interesting to know.

I will also figure out what encoder Sound Forge uses.

If I use Sound Forge 7, which is no longer available, and encode at 64 bit and compare the quality of what I hear in the MP3 encoded out of Sonar, at 128 or even 192, the Sound Forge sounds better.

What??? No offense, but I'd be VERY surprised if ANY encoder at 64kbps on this earth, be it MP3 or whatever, could rival a 192kbps LAME MP3. There MUST be something wrong with your setup. I know this doesn't help you either, sorry for that and good luck!

werner

PS: yeah, try CD-EX, just to see/hear for yourself that LAME is not your problem.

Just my opinion, but I think lame 3.93 sounds the best.

Jesse:

thanks for those concise instructions. Had it loaded and working in only minutes.