I RTFM, and it says the console emu should go first in the chain on the ProChannel. And it says the chain goes from top to bottom, which makes perfect sense.
 
However, in some of Craig's Tips, and other screen shots I see on the internet, the console emulator is at the bottom of the ProChannel. So......the obvious question........where should it go? I'm not looking for any out of the ordinary sounds from my emulator, just the standard.
 
Thanks.
 
~Jeff

That's interesting. I never RTFM with regard to recommended position of the Console Emulator. First makes sense, but in the default PC arrangement that ships with SONAR, it's last; that's why a lot of the screenshots will show it that way.
 
I guess the Bakers need to RTFM. 
 
You can change the PC setup and save it as the default by right-clicking.

IMHO it goes last so that everything gores through it.
 
It's affects are very subtle to me.

I don't entirely get the logic there either. If we're pretending all PC modules are hardware, normally your instrument would go in the input of the console (so first position) and then into, say, an 1176 via an insert (so out of the console and back in) before hitting the console EQ (Quadcurve?) and lastly the fader (consoler emulator again?). Honestly I don't think it matters much. It's designed to give some color that you might get from a real console. It's fake anyway so it's really up to you where you like it best if at all.

This has come up before.  Here's a thread I started last year because it seemed to me there was a conflict between the recommended position of the module in the signal chain and what you can do within a track strip.
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/Console-Emulator-Why-Only-A-PC-Module-m3227635.aspx
 
The breakthrough for me was the discovery of FX Chains.  You can insert an FX Chain into the ProChannel.  It serves as an FX Bin for your other plugins.  The beauty is that you can use any ProChannel module and any FX and order them any way you need to.
 
I created ProChannel presets with an empty FX Chain, or with an FX Chain that has a few of my favorite plugins.

I prefer last. If you use the Tube module for distortion, you want to process the distortion, not distort the processor. Or if you use a limiter or compressor, you want to process the compressed signal, not compress the processed signal.
 
Unless, of course, you want to distort the processor or compress the processed signal 
 
The one exception is if I'm using the CE's transformer emulation and distortion as an effect with bass. Then like any other distortion-based processor, I put it first. But at that point I'm using it more as an effect than for console emulation.
 
Ultimately...whatever sounds best IS best.

I've been letting the meters (at the end of the PC) just slightly touch the red in RMS mode and I like the visual giving me levels at the end of the PC

so...are supposed to hear the difference using it  ? :-D      ...it IS slight, eh?   Like walk out of the room and back in and not hear a diff??   I just crank all knobs up to "2" and leave em....and turn on the red "variable" light.

I think the difference is if you are imagining them as a summing console (where all tracks are routed) or as a console preamp emulation thing (where tracks begin)
Summing console would go at the end of every chain
Console preamp (with distortion or whatever-like Craig said) would go first.
 
It is all make believe anyway, so whatever sounds best.  Personally, I stick them at the end of each tracks fx chain.
Cumulatively, they are still subtle but quite noticeable.  I like them a lot.

Well, I think the consensus here is put the CE last in the chain for the "summing" quality. I can understand that.
 
So...one more question.......
 
Is there a quick way to re-position the CE on all my tracks and busses at once? I have them all up top now, and I want them all at the bottom. Any CTRL + command that will do this for all tracks? Or do I have to change each one individually?
 
Thanks for all the comments guys. This forum is the absolute best around.
 
~Jeff