SONAR 7 XL and the MP3 encoder

[Jules]

I am using the SONAR 7 XL home recording studio and I want to share some of my music on the internet. I understand that I need  to download an Mp3 encoder or activator in order to upload it to the internet but I am not sure which I would need: an encoder or an activator. Does anyone have any information about this at all as well as how I might get hold of the relevant Mp3 encoder?  Thanks very much.  

[scook]

Forget about the integrated mp3 encoder that Cakewalk sold and ultimately gave away for free when they no longer had to pay the royalty fee.

Cakewalk went out of business in 2018 and there is no legitimate way to get any of their products today.

It is possible to use Lame or any other free mp3 encoder to create an mp3 file from the wave file exported from SONAR.

OR

If you are running a Win7 64bit or newer consider installing Cakewalk by BandLab. It is free, originally based on SONAR Platinum and includes an integrated mp3 encoder. CbB can work with SONAR project files.

[John Vere]

Lots of Free wave editors are available. They all do MP3 conversations. Or why not up grade to the latest Cakewalk which is free? It has everything you want and more. 

[Byron Dickens]

What you need to do is update and the mp3 encoder is included. Instead of mucking around with 15 year old obsolete, unsupported software.

[Jules]

I have tried downloading the new cakewalk bandlab but when I open projects -which I composed with SONAR 7- it states that some instruments are no longer available.  

Does anyone have any suggestions about which free audio converter I might use to upload music to bandcamp at all? Thanks.

[Xoo]

Are you using the 32 or 64 bit version of SONAR 7?  If the former, it's very likely at least some won't be available under any 64 bit version of SONAR or Cakewalk by Bandlab.

[John Vere]

You let yourself fall way to far behind with your recording set up so it makes it hard to get help with things that are not really an issue anymore for millions of DAW users. 
 

Best advice I can offer is to take a little time to bring your system up to speed. Cakewalk has seen a zillion improvements since Sonar 7. 

Sounds like all you need to do is replace a few outdated VST instruments with newer ones. We all had to go through that as time moves forward. The transition from 32 bit to 64 bit is still a work in progress. Lots of great plug ins never got upgraded. 
Tell us what instruments you need and we can offer replacements. There are hundreds of free plug is and instruments available 

And if you need help re learning Cakewalk go to the Tutorials. I have a complete series that walks you though the features step by step 

[Jules]

At present, I appear to have resolved the problem I had as I have managed to upload my music to bandcamp once converting the SONAR 7  files to FLAC.  In terms of making new music projects, I would like to upgrade to cakewalk bandlab. However, when I did try downloading the software the old projects -as mentioned earlier- could not play as they did in sonar 7 on bandlab  and when I looked at the files in SONAR 7 they appeared to have changed as well. To correct this I uninstalled bandlab and reinstalled SONAR 7 via the disks I had from the sonar package I obtained long ago. The projects then played as before.

Is is possible to have both SONAR 7 and bandlab on one PC without alterations being made to the software of SONAR 7? Or, would I need to download bandlab onto a new PC in order not to alter the SONAR 7 program with my old music projects stored there? 

[Byron Dickens]

Yes

[scook]

SONAR 7 is not the same product as SONAR Home Studio 7 XL.

SONAR 7 has both 32bit and 64bit DAW installers.

SONAR Home Studio 7 XL is only 32bit and based on an older version of SONAR.

Based on the OP, I am assuming this thread is about a 32bit only DAW.

Correction: both SONAR 7 and SONAR 7 HS XL include 32 and 64bit DAWs.

Installing CbB with any 64bit version of a Cakewalk DAW will update shared dlls and utilities. These shared files are compatible with all prior versions of 64bit versions of SONAR.

CbB does not interact in any way with 32bit Cakewalk DAWs including the SONAR Home Studio series.

 

When transitioning from 32bit to 64bit always work on copies of project. Do not overwrite the original project as there will likely be 32bit plug-ins that will not run in the 64bit environment.

This is especially true of 32bit DX plug-ins that were not ported to 64bit. DX plug-ins are host bitness specific. IOW, 32bit DX plug-in only run in 32bit DX host such as SONAR Home Studio 7 XL. 64bit DX plug-in only run in 64bit DX hosts such as the 64bit versions of SONAR and CbB (which is 64bit only).

Using the 32bit DAW to load projects and replace 32bit only plug-ins with new 32/64bit plug-ins is an important part of the transition process, if one plans on using the projects in a 64bit DAW.

 

update: to correct statement about SHS 7 being 32bit only.

Edited August 4, 2022 by scook

[Byron Dickens]

Another reason to keep up

[57Gregy]

1 hour ago, scook said:

SONAR Home Studio 7 XL is only 32bit

I have SONAR HS 6 XL, which is 32-and 64-bit. Would they have made the later HS 7 worse in that way?

In any case, removing SONAR is not recommended if you want to retain all of your plug-ins and synths.

[scook]

20 minutes ago, 57Gregy said:

I have SONAR HS 6 XL, which is 32-and 64-bit. Would they have made the later HS 7 worse in that way?

In any case, removing SONAR is not recommended if you want to retain all of your plug-ins and synths.

I stand corrected.

When looking up SONAR HS 7 XL, I found no mention of 64bit (other than the 64bit DPE which is not the same as a native 64bit DAW) or Bitbridge.

Are you saying the installer has a screen to select separate 32 or 64 bit installs?

If so, then it does have a native 64bit format.

[John Vere]

There should still be no interference between the programs but the important thing mentioned above is always have back up copies of your projects.  
I’ve never had major issues opening real old CWP files in new versions of Cakewalk other than the typical missing plug in stuff.
They all show up in the bins and tracks in brackets or something like that and so it’s easy to figure out what they were and replace. 
But for sure don’t try and open a file saved in new version in something as old as Sonar 7. I still have 8.5 and I can’t open anything but an original very old project or a midi file.
There’s no reason to be uninstalling the software. It is recommended you install your oldest version first and then install the newer in sequence of release. I just do 8.5, X3 and then CbB. Then I run Command Center. 

[57Gregy]

40 minutes ago, scook said:

Are you saying the installer has a screen to select separate 32 or 64 bit installs?

Yes, and it is installed on this 64-bit machine.
Just for checking things.
My DAW is a dinosaur (like me), 32-bit XP with E-Mu 0404. As much as I have used it the last few years, it might as well be a fossil.