Thank you rraud for the taking the time to reply. I found the "Always proxy..." under Options and checked it, but the save of an edited file to MP3 takes a very long time, even if I try saving to another folder. It saves WAV very quickly, but I don't want to use WAV because of the size. Is this a common complaint?

It saves WAV very quickly, but I don't want to use WAV because of the size. Is this a common complaint?

Yes, there has been numerous complaints with both Audio Studio and Pro versions. Have you tried a uninstall>reinstall. Not all folks experience this issue, so it may be a PC specific or an OS setting that no one on this forum is aware of. I have not experienced the issue in any SF versions, from Sonic Foundry though Magix on many different PCs. a certain Antivrus maybe. I have have experienced no problems running Win Defender, Norton, Kasperty, Avast. I would contact Magix tech support to get their take on it.
If file size is an issue, there are other data compressed formats like FLAC, AAC, PCA, ect. There are other MP3 encoders as well, but you woulld need to render an temporary PCM.

Thank you, rraud. Since writing that last question, I did find that others had the same issue. I probably will look more closely at a couple things: a reinstall, and I'll have a look at the antivirus I use (NOD). How very odd it seems that saving should be a problem. I've used an older version of Sound Forge for years, and only recently decided to upgrade to what seems now to be a slow painstaking process rather than an improvement. Again, I very much appreciate your generous help.

I am having the same exact problem with rendering an existing WAV file to MP3. I have a fairly powerful machine and this should really NOT be an issue. I have had similar problems in slow rendering to MP3 (vs WAV) also in some version of Sonar. This is really unacceptable.

@Robert-Seitz Try to restart your computer. Please select the Restart option and not the Shut down option. Try to disable your antivirus, firewall or Windows Defender temporarily. Try to disable Smart App Control. Try to run the program as administrator by right clicking on the program icon. Check if you have automatic compression enabled on your drive or for the folder you want to save to and disable it. I hope something will help.

@Robert-Seitz Try to restart your computer. Please select the Restart option and not the Shut down option. Try to disable your antivirus, firewall or Windows Defender temporarily. Try to disable Smart App Control. Try to run the program as administrator by right clicking on the program icon. Check if you have automatic compression enabled on your drive or for the folder you want to save to and disable it. I hope something will help.

I use ESET antivirus and it has never been a problem before. I will try disabling Smart APP, I am running as admin and do not have drive compression enabled and am using a fairly fast SSD. This seems like an issue with the MP3 compression scheme. Older version of full SF Studio 6 had no issues but since taken over by Magix, cannot authenticate install even though I own the license. Again, very disappointing.