I just picked up an old pink-labelled ART MDC-2001 dynamics processor.  I bought it online for NZ$43 (US$36) plus postage.  I unpacked it and thought about how to patch it into my system.  I even pulled out an old patch bay and was about to cable things up, when I remembered Sonar's external insert plugin.  I am lucky enough to have a MOTU 2408 and 24I/O, so I have analog I/Os up the wazoo.
 
I just love how easy it is to set up - plug it in, hit a button to correct for round-trip latency, and you're done.  PDC keeps everything in sync.  Awesome.
 
As a side note, this old MDC-2001 is a revelation.  I wasn't expecting much, but it's super quiet and also very transparent for an analog unit.  Can't believe I got such a nice sounding unit for so little.  With the process so easy in Sonar, I might just have to go out and find a bunch more unloved gear to fill my rack <evil laugh>

+1
 
I have a UCX which has a compressor/expander and EQ on every channel as well as a great reverb.
 
My point is to not forget your interface as a possible source of external FX.
 
It means doing real time bounces, but more listening isn't always a bad thing.

Hello
By curiosity, where do you insert your external device ? In the Master bus or do you create a special bus dedicated to it ?

peter434
Hello
By curiosity, where do you insert your external device ? In the Master bus or do you create a special bus dedicated to it ?

You physically patch the device between any spare set of inputs and outputs on your sound card and then select those I/Os in the external insert module.  Sonar's external insert module then become just like any other FX and you can patch it in anywhere you like in Sonar, as a channel insert or a bus insert.  It almost makes a piece of physical hardware as flexible as a VST plugin.

Thanks Silicon for your answer !

Hi Silicon, I've been wanting to do this also, and was wondering how you determine the latency when going in and out to an external device. Thanks.

Sonar actually measures the latency and compensates. Here's the Cakewalk documentation on it. It's not always perfect (e.g., if the effect introduces delay) but you can manually compensate to tweak it. Another freebie is I wrote an article in Sound on Sound that's more oriented toward using external hardware keyboards.
 
Additionally, I wrote a section on using external hardware effects in my book "Guitarist's Guide to Sonar," and video #18 in my "Advanced Workshop" video covers using external effects.
 
 

Anderton
Sonar actually measures the latency and compensates. Here's the Cakewalk documentation on it. It's not always perfect (e.g., if the effect introduces delay) but you can manually compensate to tweak it. Another freebie is I wrote an article in Sound on Sound that's more oriented toward using external hardware keyboards.
 
Additionally, I wrote a section on using external hardware effects in my book "Guitarist's Guide to Sonar," and video #18 in my "Advanced Workshop" video covers using external effects.
 
 

Thanks Craig.  I'll check those out when I get home.

I would agree... it works (almost) flawlessly. I have a PCM-90 set up permanently as my primary reverb.

Cool this is good to know, I was always using my external gear as external gear instead of internally.