Channel Converter Presets not recognized after Windows 10 reinstall

GiorgioV wrote on 3/5/2025, 1:39 AM

Hi everyone,

After reinstalling Windows 10, the .sfp files of Sound Forge Pro 17 with the 'Channel Converter' presets are not recognized, even though I have reinserted them after installation in the dedicated folder.

I absolutely need to recover what were, for each of the custom presets I created, the percentages assigned to each channel for downmixing from multichannel to stereo. How do I extract/recover those percentages from the .sfp files?

I'm terrified I might just have lost a year of work. Thank you in advance.

Comments

SP. wrote on 3/5/2025, 3:43 AM

@GiorgioV Hmm, good question. Did you install the Software into the exact same location? Maybe the presets are bound to their directories.

To my knowledge all presets are stored in the Windows registry? But I'm not sure how this works on Sound Forge 17. I'm using SF 12.

GiorgioV wrote on 3/5/2025, 3:48 AM

Yeah, I had no idea that presets were somehow stored in the Windows registry, which is now gone since I reinstalled it.That's where the problem lies.

All I have left are the presets files. I'm praying I can somehow extract those few data out of them. All I need are those percentages for the downmixed channels.

SP. wrote on 3/5/2025, 5:03 AM

@GiorgioV I haven't tried it, but can you drag and drop sfp files onto the channel converter window?

GiorgioV wrote on 3/5/2025, 5:16 AM

Nope, doesn't work ('no access' sign)

SP. wrote on 3/5/2025, 6:06 AM

@GiorgioV Ok, you might be able to manually add them to the registry.

For example, create a new channel converter preset under the same sfp file name you used in the past and save it. This should create a new preset entry in the registry that points to the sfp file.

Next, close Sound Forge and open C:\Users\*your username*\AppData\Local\MAGIX\Sound Forge Pro\*version number*\Presets\*preset guid*\filename.sfp and replace the sfp file with your old file. Then start Sound Forge again. I think it should now load your old settings.

If it works, repeat the steps for every sfp file

GiorgioV wrote on 3/5/2025, 8:56 AM

... it works!! IT WORKS!!!! 😀

Now, that's what I call extreme ingenuity. THANK YOU

This makes me think that the Windows Registry does not actually hold any real content, it's more like an index or something.

You have no idea what this means to me, I was terrified. ONE YEAR working on dozens of albums downmixes, all lost. Perhaps I'd have come to that conclusion in the end, but only after a lot of stress and suffering. I had started looking into hexadecimal editors and stuff like that!

Thank you again, and congratulations!

SP. wrote on 3/5/2025, 9:50 AM

@GiorgioV Great to hear it worked.

Yeah, in that case the registry is like an index. But I believe a lot of the old effects in Sound Forge are in fact DirectX plugins which store their presets as registry entries under the name of "DirectShow".