There are 3 ways to deal with soft synth presets in Sonar.
1. Use the project file, the project automatically saves everything.
2. Save them to the project directory.
3. Save them to where the synth expects them to be.
4. Save them somewhere else.
Ok, that's 4.
What is the best approach?
What do you do?
Does it vary based on the patch or synth?
What about reusing sounds?
 
 

1. The project file saves them anyway. You only need to save plugin settings if you want to re-use them elsewhere.
2. I save plugin settings for a given project within the project folder itself, in a sub-folder called "Settings". This way they are easy to find when you need them and they don't get deleted or overwritten when you update or reinstall the software.
3. If you store them within each plugin's own folders, it would be inconvenient trying to retrieve all of them in the event of a re-installation.
4. Storing them all together globally would be fine too, provided that you have a good system for identifying and retrieving them.

When possible (vst, standalone) I strongly suggest not using the sonar preset function. It is a non-standard format and requires using the plugin manager to export/import when moving to a new computer.
 
Unfortunately most dx plugs do not have preset functions.
 
I forgot to export presets and now it is being way annoying to get the presets recognized.
I have copied all such files to all identifiable locations. But they are not recognized.
 
The sonar installation and utilities should provide for ALL paths to be selectable by the user.
 

I used to save synth presets for particular projects in sub-folders in the project folder, but a long while back I moved to saving them in some sort of User Library for the given synth, so that they would be easier to pull up as starting points for creating presets for some other project.
 
When I DO reuse a customized preset in a different project, I generally will save it under a new name prior to any tweaking.
 
It's really a matter of personal choice - do what makes sense to you.
 
Bob Bone
 

If you expect to reuse custom presets in another project, I find it easier to recall them if they are saved to a non-project location, such as a folder titled "VST Presets" with subfolders for each VST and give each preset a useful name, usually the project + track + some intended result. 

Yes, I now avoid using the Sonar dialog's preset whenever possible.
 
For VSTs I also save to a folder that is NOT buried.
 

I have folders on my data drive where I save presets for each VST that I may want to reuse across projects. If the preset is really project-specific, I just let Sonar save it with the project file. However, after reading the posts here, also having a backup in the project folder might not be a bad idea for project-specific presets.

I do create my own sounds or user presets too.  However, I save them in their own directory/folder so that I can find the sound I want with the associated synth in which it was created.  So, when I create and save a preset, I put a suffix to identify the synth, such as, RP for Rapture, DP for DPro, ZB for Zebra etc.  That way I don't have to think about the synth, but the sound only.  With this reference I will know what synth to insert into the project.
 
Kind regards,
 
Living Room Rocker

robert_e_bone
...It's really a matter of personal choice - do what makes sense to you.

 
Exactly. It doesn't really matter which system you use as long as it works for you.

On the other hand, I believe that it makes sense to associate a given sound with the project that was used in. If I see a list of sounds for a particular project, then I would usually remember what each of them sounds like. But if I see a list of sounds for a particular softsynth, I would probably need to listen to each one.