I have the Waves NLS and feel they are a lot more "noticeable" than the Cake PC versions. That can be a good or a bad thing depending on your POV.

telecharge
Is there any type of source material where the effects of the ProChannel console emulations are obvious? I think I hear a little something using the Trident "A" emulation, but I really can't tell the difference with the other two.
 
It could be my monitoring or not knowing what to listen for.

http://blog.cakewalk.com/..ole-emulation-in-sonar/

Sanderxpander
I have the Waves NLS and feel they are a lot more "noticeable" than the Cake PC versions. That can be a good or a bad thing depending on your POV.

I prefer such plugins to have a very subtle impact, that sums up nicely, rather than being obvious and ruin the entire mix session. I'm not a big fan of analogue processing, though.

Soundwise
http://blog.cakewalk.com/..ole-emulation-in-sonar/

Thanks for that, but it's not very encouraging...
 
"One track may not sound all that different in the final mix, but if you apply this effect to the entirety of your session, well then you’ll probably start to hear some differences. These DSP algorithms are tuned differently even though you may have a hard time hear their differences."

It really is something where the effect is cumulative. Use Console Emulation ALL tracks, then use Quick Grouping to change the Type and Drive controls. You'll hear a difference.
 
I can hear a difference even on single tracks, but I think it may be a question of ear training as well. Try this: 
place the mouse over the bypass button, close your eyes, then click until you don’t know whether the CE is active or bypassed. Then click and compare, still with your eyes closed. After deciding which sounds best, open your eyes to find out what it was. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the Console Emulator 99% of the time. If you don't hear a difference, turn up the Drive control all the way and try again.

Thanks, Craig. I was thinking of trying something like that with some old mixes.
 
Your tip of the week on the subject is a good reference, too.
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3562697

The beauty of Sonar Pro Channel is that it has excellent tube emulator, QC EQ, various compressors, and tape saturator. You can go as "analogue" as you wish. I have many plugins that cover all my needs and then some, yet most of the time Pro Channel is all I need for mixing.

I can hear the difference with the PC emulator for sure. As Craig suggests using quick grouping is a great way to change them all at once. I wish they'd take it a bit further though because you can't quick group busses and tracks at the same time. A global control would be the cat's PJs.

As a side note, I understand why you would push the channel emulator for more saturation, but why would you under-drive it?

Thinking about it more, I find myself wondering if other plug-ins might have been masking/obscuring the Console Emulation. I know there's been a few instances where an effect I've used on a track seemed to have no effect because of other effects used further down the mix chain.
 
I'm sure I've tried CE alone on a track and probably a bus, but I've not put it on everything and A/Bed it.

I've never heard the console or tape emulators do anything I felt was worth while. Its only with extreme settings that I detect much of an effect at all. My attitude is if I've got to squint to hear it through my transparent monitors in my controlled environment, no one who is likely to hear anything I put out would be able to tell the difference even if you put a gun to their head. Hard to justify eating up even a handful of CPU cycles at that point.