Hello, 
 
        What are the sonar pro built in plug ins that you always use for finishing an instrumental?  All I use are the basics because I'm not good enough yet to use the more advanced ones.  Although I have been mixing my own beats for years, I've come to the point where my tracks sound pretty much industry ready, however it's that one percent polish I'm lacking.  My high end seems to ascend into the non perceptible, that's why I always filter it, since I can't get it to sound fully mastered.  My low end is more focused since I make electronic music, I've mastered how to get the synth kick heavy punch, and still have a well sounding sub bass line.  
 
Any little effects or tricks you or I maybe be missing to get that extra one percent polish?  I know it's more than one percent, the finalization to a mix is the most precious.
 
Thanks,
LWD
(I wonder if I can PM mods now?)
 

Craig Anderton has set up some decent mastering chains within the PC. At least I think it was Craig. Not 100% sure. Look in the folder of the PC. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "extra polish". 
Sometimes mastering chains will use an exciter at the end. Different material requires different approaches. Mastering is a long process to learn even with all the best plug ins. You also need a reliable way to listen/interpret what you hear.
There's really no "trick" to make it happen. You need a good left-brained approach to do it right. 

i use wavelab for my mastering.
 
and a combination of Waves and other plugins (IKM)
 
this is a great combination, and the point that wavelab is setup specifically for this task,
makes it super easy.

I use a custom built chain of T-Racks plugins.

Ozone 7 Advanced is perfect for me.......I really don't knowing much about the whole mastering process so O7A makes it super easy with all the great presets (a lot) it comes with.

I use Alchemy and some witches brew mainly.

LWD19821483
What are the sonar pro built in plug ins that you always use for finishing an instrumental? 

Many times I have some of the following plugs in my "pseudo" mastering chain: WAVES J37/Vinyl (for color), some Fairchild compressor emu for glue (often WAVES PuigChild), a multiband compressor (often FF MB) and a limiter at the end (e.g. The Wall) ...what one of the singer/songwriters I worked with lately called the "black magic voodoo buttons" which make it sound better (which is a simple combo of a little bit of mix glue plus the formula that louder is also better IYNWIM) ... however, since I'm not a mastering engineer I mostly use this to illustrate how a final master could sound / change how the song comes across ...
 
Apart from the Fairchild emu there is a Sonar version for each of these plugs ... still I usually grab some of the ones I listed because I know them well ...
 
Mastering itself I approach in 2 ways:
In case I need to deliver something as loud as a final master e.g. something that ends up as a background track for youtube promo videos, I "pseudo" master myself, actually often having the mastering plugs already in the master bus and when fine-tuning the mix, I mix into these plugs often via Avantone cubes which represent the playback devices for many youtube videos (cell phones, TVs, tablets, ...) ... however, this I do when I need to deliver quickly and the artist has no budget for 3rd party mastering ... and after discussing the downsides of not professionally mastering ... plus providing also the pre-"mastered" mix to have it mastered at a later stage in case the material should go onto some CD ...
 
For stuff that needs proper mastering (songs that make up an album distributed as a download package or CD) I basically insist on external pro mastering.
 
 

I use Ozone.  It seems to give good results across the board.
 
It is one of my main "goto" plugs.

I use all that stuff too, but as I understand it that wasn't the question. The question was which SONAR plug ins do you use. I believe it is possible now to get a really good master using only the plugs in Sonar, especially with the new Adaptive Limiter and Engineering Eq's etc.
 
In Ozone 7 Advanced we have chains. In TRacks we have chains. In Sonar we have chains or you can make your own.
After having used most of the others I believe you can do it in Sonar. It's mostly about knowing which chains to use in addition to how to set each plug in.
You can make your own mastering chain in Sonar.
Here's a basic example of a chain you could make that would cover a lot of material.
Dynamic EQ> Multiband Compressor>Post Compressor>Exciter>Post EQ> Adaptive Limiter
 
You can mix it up, you can copy other chains or use the existing chains in Sonar. No one says you can't make adjustments to existing chains.
 
To begin with you'll need a basic understanding of frequencies and how they interact.How they can cancel each other or how too much can make a track muddy. Also an understanding of limiters and compression. With respect to master volume RMS, LUFS, Average RMS, K-meter. 
 
Lots of folks simply use a mastering application. It really doesn't take much more to do it the other way. Even if you still use Ozone or TRacks you can learn how to best manipulate them for maximum effect. Use good plug ins. Sonar has good plug ins.

I don't master. I just make everything louder than everything else until my ears bleed then I back down the master level by -0.3db.