Audio recorded instruments vs. Virtual Instruments

I'm still pretty new to using Sonar and recording, mixing, mastering, etc., but I've got a quick question that I'd like to hear some advice on when it comes to post recording instruments - whether actual instruments or digital/virtual instruments.
 
When a vocal or guitar or other type of "real" instrument is recorded, I've read and seen videos about editing, using HP filtering, EQ, compression, etc., which is all supposed to be done to the recording for eliminating any noise that could interfere with post production mixing and mastering of the final product.  That, even with a good recording and sound achieved, there is always something to be rolled off or reduced, compressed, filtered, whatever.
 
Now, in the case of a virtual instrument such as Session Drummer or Addictive Drums, or any of the other hundreds of synths available in Sonar, is final product that is available already edited and filtered, and eliminate the need to do anything other than minor adjustments?
 
I apologize for using improper terminology to explain my question, but I hope it gets the point across...in other words, if I record using Audio tracks, then insert a synth track for my drums, am I wasting time by editing the drums, using HP filters, EQ, and compression to the point where it could make it very difficult to mix and master the music altogether?
 
Regards,
steve

Great video ... the bass vs kick part alone is worth the time watching

You have to distinguish between sampled "real" instruments like Addictive Drums and virtual synths. Drum VST's usually give you, when stripped down, very well recorded dry samples of drums without any effects. So you're still going to want to EQ and compress them to make them fit your track. How much EQ and compression depends on what else you have going in that track, and the sound you're looking for etc. They'll generally have their own onboard effect processing as an option, and include many mix presets. These may be good as a starting point to tweak from. Or they may sound just great without any effects. You have to use your ears and your judgment as in the case of applying any kind of effect to your music.
 
Synth presets are usually designed to sound great on their own, as Dan said above, and thus contain more frequencies than you'll likely need for your track. You almost always have to high pass and low pass filter them, and make other cuts in order to stop them clashing too much with other tracks. There are many tutorials out there on frequency clashing and how to use EQ to prevent it.
 
But bear in mind that virtual instruments generally need less compression than recordings you made yourself. When you record a real player, you sometimes have to deal with the fact that their playing isn't dynamically consistent, i.e. some notes pop out more than they should, and others aren't loud enough. Compression can level out those "defects" and reduce the dynamic range to make the performance "smoother" (although hopefully not too much because dynamic range is part of the character of music). However, when you use virtual instruments, you have complete control over the velocity of each note (via MIDI) and so have complete control over the dynamic range. Use velocity to add accent and expression.
 
That's not to say that you wouldn't use compression on virtual instruments for other reasons. With compression you can control the attack and sustain of notes, and thus make them punchier/fatter. However, in the case of virtual "real" instruments like drums, you are sometimes given controls for this on the plugin itself. In the case of synths, you can almost always shape the sound to your taste using the synth controls rather than turning to a compressor. I rarely use a lot of compression on synths. However (there's so many however's in mixing), different compressors give a different "flavor" to the sound that might sound good on the track. Some vintage compressor simulations add grit and saturation to the sound, and that may be what you want. I guess the overall lesson to take away is that the biggest factor in whether or not you should use EQ and compression on virtual instruments is your ears.
 
 

I've pretty much stopped using the fx bins and switched to putting fx modules in the PC instead.

PC fx modules have the advantage you can put vst fx anywhere in the chain you want, and you can split them up with PC modules between them. So chains like (pc)gate-(pc)compressor-(pc)eq-(vst)chorus-(pc)saturation-(vst)delay become possible, which can't be done using the track fx bin.

As for the console emulator, I prefer to put that last, unless I'm using a tape emulator as well, in which case the tape goes last.