Dave76
The Sonitus bundle is long in the tooth

I prefer to think of them as "vintage." Actually I use the Sonitus effects a lot.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and advice.
 
For some background, I would put myself in the "experienced hobbyist" category.  I think I got my first copy of Cakewalk version 8, when it was just called cakewalk around 2000.  How things have changed since then - my (then top of the line) 450 MHz pc would break out in a sweat under the load of just a few channels of audio.  I actually purchased the Sonitus plugs somewhere along the line.
 
I have a new, powerful PC, some good hardware (mics, pres, MOTU interface, M-One XL verb, XP synth), I got Platinum and sprung for Rapture Pro and got the ProChannel Pack on St Paddy's day.  I'm excited to see that Cake will be updating the Mastering EQ and Multi Comp soon.  I purchased the waves Gold bundle years ago and am thinking about updating.  The music I would like to record is guitar/vocal oriented, from folk to rock.
 
I've been down the plug in rabbit hole, and started this thread to avoid that if possible.  I think the current toolkit in Platinum is very good, but also wanted to find out of anything is missing, if there is anything. 
It seems that alot of folks like ProChannel, I'll start from there. (this was actually my plan)
Maybe Sonitus is old, and looks a little rough, I'll try to appreciate their utility. 
I've read mixed reviews on the BlueTube stuff, I'll give them a whirl. 
 
I'm going to try to stick with what Cake provides, but have already broken my rule with the ProChannel pack.  If I add anything, I'm hoping it will be a well considered decision.

schwa
Maybe Sonitus is old, and looks a little rough, I'll try to appreciate their utility.

If you really want to appreciate their utility, use them for several months, then go cold turkey and try to reproduce what they do with other plug-ins. The Sonitus plugs got it right the first time. There are better reverbs now, but some of them are hard to beat with any modern plug-in. Check out the March eZine for yet another example of why Sonitus plug-ins rule.

Anderton

schwa
Maybe Sonitus is old, and looks a little rough, I'll try to appreciate their utility.

If you really want to appreciate their utility, use them for several months, then go cold turkey and try to reproduce what they do with other plug-ins. The Sonitus plugs got it right the first time. There are better reverbs now, but some of them are hard to beat with any modern plug-in. Check out the March eZine for yet another example of why Sonitus plug-ins rule.

I agree, the Sonitus compressor and EQ are excellent because of the adaptability factor...being able to change the shape of the EQ or Compressor is really cool...and in particular the EQ can be used in a similar fashion to the Pro Channel.  I still use these two plugs in Vegas Video, for my video editing.
 
Peace Ben

Schwa... your approach is very sound... Get all the pro channel mods... all are high quality and extremely useful...If I had to start over, after that and could only spend  500$ beyond that (I've spent well over 15k...arrrrg) I'd just buy Omnisphere2... and spend time on the pluginguru's site watching his free instructional vids.
 
You can pretty much shake the world for a decade with a fully loaded platinum and Omnisphere...
 
Enjoy!  and avoid what we laughingly call "gas" around here...Stay away from the "Deals" forum... Gas attacks are hard to control. I'm in therapy trying to kick the addiction and use what I have, which is mindblowing enough!
 
 

Read the recording revolution blog:
http://therecordingrevolution.com/blog/
 
especially this article:
http://therecordingrevolution.com/2016/03/21/what-grammy-winners-bob-clearmountain-and-dylan-dresdow-disagree-on-in-mixing/
 
 This may curb your GAS problem.
 
 

Cool article. Although to be honest if you listen to the average Will.I.Am track it does sound super plastic. I guess that has more to do with the choice of synths and fx though - I wonder what would happen if they both got the same stems. I don't think winning a Grammy is the be all and end all of "good quality production". Although I'd sure love to get one :)

That article is good. Although a lot also comes down to preference in work flow, a tool is only as good as the proficiency of the user. Give a master an old tool and they can scrape every ounce of use from it; give a novice a new tool and, well...

The comment on "sweet spot" I am a firm believer in regarding plugins.

In Sonar Platinum I'm always using the Pro Channel EQ.  It does the gig and having the spectrum analyzer is great for finding trouble.  The Buss compressor (PK, something...) is great too!  I also REALLY like the CA2A and use it more than any other compressor I have- including the WAVES V Comp (Neve emulation) that I have.  Next would be the Lexicon Reverb that came bundled with Sonar a few years back.  I own the Oxford Reverb (which I spent a couple hundred US bucks on) but find myself going the the Lexicon a bit more.  (No love for the BreVerb plugin that came with Sonar a couple years back.  I find it much too bright almost always).  As for peak limiting on the master bus the best I've tried is the WAVES L2.  Of course all of this is YMMV.

There's no reason any mixer can't get satisfactory results with what comes included in (or are available with) Sonar. The plugs I've added might give me different flavors or easier access to different flavors, but I don't find them essential to completing a mix.  
 
That said, I do have third party plugs that I use in every mix. I've just found plugs that work well with how I think, or hear or ...... something. lol
 
I believe it really comes down to learning what you have and then concentrating on recording/mixing/mastering, rather than being distracted by plugin choice.