Relatively new to Sonar, and certainly new to mastering...   going for the best sound for the least investment. I noticed a few things about some of the plugins, like the reverb offered in the Prochannel portion, did not sound good to my ears...  I have a Lexicon Pantheon plugin from somewhere that sounds so much better. I noticed that the LP-64 EQ introduces a delay in to the eq'd track, which has to be corrected or the feel of the song is messed up (but I guess for mastering this would not be a problem, as you're working with only one stereo track anyways). I'm new to this, am interested in saving the effort of testing each and every one out... and maybe still not getting it right...  so any ideas would be appreciated.
 
Anyways, can you suggest any of the standard plugins that come with Sonar X3 Studio that work or sound best in these categories:
- delay
- reverb
- simple 4-5 band EQ  
- multi-band EQ
- single band compressor
- multi-band compressor
 
Or, conversely, could you recommend any plugins to stay away from ?

LP-64 and the other mastering VSTs  are quite heavy on the CPU. Even if you're working with one stereo track,
a few of those heavy plugins can cause a delay if the buffers are not adjusted, but as you're not multitracking, it doesn't matter.
Also any compressors or such with a look-ahead-feature inevitably add delay that needs to be compensated.
 
You can get far with SONARs own plugins. If you start investing, my only suggestion for mastering is Izotope Ozone.

Chevy
Relatively new to Sonar, and certainly new to mastering...   going for the best sound for the least investment. I noticed a few things about some of the plugins, like the reverb offered in the Prochannel portion, did not sound good to my ears...  I have a Lexicon Pantheon plugin from somewhere that sounds so much better. I noticed that the LP-64 EQ introduces a delay in to the eq'd track, which has to be corrected or the feel of the song is messed up (but I guess for mastering this would not be a problem, as you're working with only one stereo track anyways). I'm new to this, am interested in saving the effort of testing each and every one out... and maybe still not getting it right...  so any ideas would be appreciated.
 
Anyways, can you suggest any of the standard plugins that come with Sonar X3 Studio that work or sound best in these categories:
- delay
- reverb
- simple 4-5 band EQ  
- multi-band EQ
- single band compressor
- multi-band compressor
 
Or, conversely, could you recommend any plugins to stay away from ?

- Sonar automatically compensates for plugin delays, any delay you hear does not need to be "fixed".
- Lexicon Pantheon was bundled with an earlier version of Sonar.
- delay and reverb aren't mastering fx. That said I still like the Sonitus Delay. The BlueTubes OilCan Echo is also good (possibly only Producer version). Of the included reverbs, I actually like BReverb. But mostly I use 3rd party stuff.
- what's the difference between a 4-5 band EQ and a multi-band EQ? Regardless, for mastering you need to go with LP-64. For regular stuff, what's wrong with the ProChannel QuadCurve?
- I'm unsure what is included in Studio, but for a mastering multiband compressor/limiter really the LP-64 MB is your only option because of phase issues. For mixing you could use Sonitus MB.
- For a single band, switch LP-64 to a single band. For regular mixing there really isn't such a thing as "one" good compressor. Stuff that sucks on some material can be good on other stuff. But probably stay away from the LP-64 stuff because of the latency and CPU load.

Sadly there's no shortcut. If this is the start of your journey you actually have to go on the journey. No one can take the trip for you.

It's all about training your ears. First to accurately hear sound and then to hear the effect that various manipulations will have on the sound.

I can tell you not to use fx that use look ahead processing while recording as they will cause lots of latency. Other fx like the Pantheon reverb are very processor heavy so best to use those once recording is done and it's time for mixing. Broadly speaking there's recording/tracking, mixing and finally mastering. While you may go back and forth working on your own while you're recording and mixing, you definitely need to be finished mixing before moving onto mastering.

As Mike sez above, there ain't no shortcut.  You can ask what tools others use, but a more thoughtful question is why do you use it.  The Cake "mastering" plugs (LP etc.) are good, but I still use the Voxengo plugs I got many years ago.  I learned them and found no reason to change, which is as good of a reason to use a tool as any other. (hint, hint, most of the EQ plugs sound good and can sound pretty much alike).
 
If I was starting out today I'd use the LP series since I'm not really interested in spending money on software - I'd rather spend it on hardware.
 
But the important part of figuring out which tools to use is to figure out how to use them, not the make and model.  My uncle tells the story of him as a young buck digging ditches out in west Texas - summer and hotter than 700 hells.  There was an old guy my uncle knew he was stronger and tougher than, but every day the old dude had moved more dirt than he did.  Cause he knew how to use the tools - even if it was only a shovel.
 
Part of learning the tools of the trade will be figuring out your personal sound - how you like to make things sound when you get finished.  You only get this knowledge by working through things.  You'll get better if you stick to it.  But here are my favorites:
 
delay - the old SONAR one just called delay I believe.  The Oil-can Nomad Audio delay if you have it.
reverb - Breverb if you have it.  If not, Perfect Space.  The usual Cake reverbs aren't than good in my opinion,       but I've always had others.
simple 4-5 band EQ  - ProChannel.  All you need.
multi-band EQ ?
single band compressor  1176 PC for tracks, the SSL for buss.  SONITUs is great if you need infinite controls and is a great learning tool since the graphic translates nicely as far as knee and slope so you can visualize the sound
- multi-band compressor - don't know cause I don't use it enough

I believe you have to become familiar with a particular set of plugins and not just use them just because some one said they sound good to them.  Their ears are much different then yours, so what they hear in a plug in, you may not like.
 
I myself love some of the Voxengo mixing and mastering plugins and I stick by them, but since X3, I like the Nomad Blue tube plug ins as well.  I have a the T-Racks suite and I pull a few of their plugs in into the mixing chain to use as well as some of my Waves as they are great.  All this to say, you will have to test out your plug ins to find out what you like and then build your own arsenal of your go to plug ins.
 
Peace,
 
Jesse G. 

- Sonar automatically compensates for plugin delays, any delay you hear does not need to be "fixed".
- Lexicon Pantheon was bundled with an earlier version of Sonar.
- delay and reverb aren't mastering fx. That said I still like the Sonitus Delay. The BlueTubes OilCan Echo is also good (possibly only Producer version). Of the included reverbs, I actually like BReverb. But mostly I use 3rd party stuff.
- what's the difference between a 4-5 band EQ and a multi-band EQ? Regardless, for mastering you need to go with LP-64. For regular stuff, what's wrong with the ProChannel QuadCurve?
- I'm unsure what is included in Studio, but for a mastering multiband compressor/limiter really the LP-64 MB is your only option because of phase issues. For mixing you could use Sonitus MB.
- For a single band, switch LP-64 to a single band. For regular mixing there really isn't such a thing as "one" good compressor. Stuff that sucks on some material can be good on other stuff. But probably stay away from the LP-64 stuff because of the latency and CPU load.



 
Thanks much for all the feedback...   much appreciated... lots of listening to do. 
 
One thing I don't understand from above is "- Sonar automatically compensates for plugin delays, any delay you hear does not need to be "fixed"."   What does this mean?  Do you mean that when I actually export the mix to 2-track, Sonar will compensate for the delay, and I won't hear it in the exported stereo track ?  However....  I'm hearing the delay in the track while mixing and using LP-64 EQ.  If I don't "fix" it the track sounds wrong, has the wrong feel, so how do I get the mix I want without "fixing" the delay issue ?