I upgraded from Sonar 7 to X2 last year and just started using it in earnest. I'm a little overwhelmed by all the effects that are available--I realize many have been there forever but there's a lot of new stuff, too. Not sure about which choices to make--PerfectSpace or Breverb? The Sonitus Equalizer or Pro Channel? I want to be reasonably proficient on the "must have" tools for recording, mixing and mastering without spending more research time than I have to. This is mainly for contemporary and acoustic jazz with saxophone and electronic/ambient music.

So what are your top-tier, A-team, "bread and butter" effects? Should I automatically choose Pro Channel over similar plug-ins, and why?
 
Intel Core i7-2600K @ 3.40GHz
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 Choices are pretty hard using Sonar. So much is packed in there. I think you will find as you go along Perfect Space fits certain cases while Breverb does others. I try to fit the tool to the project that I'm working on. The longer you do this you will begin to see your bread and butter list growing.
As far as acoustic jazz is concerned, the synth plugins are pretty good but you will probably want to upgrade to some real quality pianos. That is if you are using plugin synths. If you do a lot of electronic music, Rapture and Zeta will fill the bill nicely.
The ProChannel FX are the strongest move Cake has made in a long time. They are absolutely hands down at the top of the list of my bread and butter go tos. It is great to be able to build a custom channel strip for each instrument on every track. Once you get ProChannel down everything else will fall into place.
For mastering I use Ozone 5 but I would not blink an eye just throwing Concrete Limiter on the end. I love the CA2A compressor on tracks. The ProChannel EQ is kind of hard to come to grips with at first but once you understand how to use it it will blow Sonitus out of the water. All of the ProChannel plugs do a great job. But again, each one of the plugs has something it does better than the other in certain situations.
I moved up to X3 this past year and am enjoying all the new features. Somethings have disappeared in the new version but if you keep your old versions on the drive you can always scan those and use them.
I could go on but I tend to sound like a commercial for Cakewalk. I've been using Cake products in studios since about 97. Some versions have been exceptional and some have been calamities. I will say even at their worst I have always been able to deliver a quality product on time.
Since you already have been thru Sonar 7 you are already aware of the products strong points. Just roll up the sleeves and dive in. Try loading an older 7 project into X2 and start playing around. I WOULD advise loading just a midi project and learning how setup the plugin synths. Loading an older project with plugins that are no longer available to you could be confusing. I wish you luck.

Good night! You sure didn't leave much for me to add. I can say I agree.

I am not a huge fan of the ProChannel concept but I think the sound quality is on average pretty decent. If you don't plan on getting any (or a lot of) third party stuff you should probably try to get comfortable with those fx first. If you have only the set that comes with X2 Producer I think you only get one channel compressor, which is a model of a very specific type (1176). So I'd suggest also looking at the Sonitus compressor. It's pretty good and more versatile.

Personally I haven't used Perfect Space, but I tend to use convolution/impulse based reverbs (like Perfect Space) when I want something to sound as if it is actually in a room/hall, and algorithmic reverbs (like BReverb) when I want it to sound like a "reverb effect". I don't think I'm alone in this.
So I'd say both have their uses.

nick8004
I upgraded from Sonar 7 to X2 last year...

Me too, but I was more overwhelmed by new GUI and didn't really pay much attention to the new effects.  Out of all the bundled effects, the only thing that I use often is the Sonitus Delay.  But, since upgrading, I am now making increasing use of the ProChannel.  Otherwise most of my goto effects are non-Cakewalk stuff.

Be advised, Sonitus plugs are no longer provided in Sonar. As of X3 they now include the Blue Tubes line. I was sort of on the fence with the new plugs but they are really starting to win me over.

Oh, sorry for getting long winded, John. LOL! Nice to see ya!

Sidroe
Be advised, Sonitus plugs are no longer provided in Sonar. As of X3 they now include the Blue Tubes line. I was sort of on the fence with the new plugs but they are really starting to win me over.

Sonitus plugs are provided with Sonar, and I still think they're both underrated and relevant. The reverb is showing its age, but the delay and modulation effects still do tricks other processors can't do.

T-Racks Grande and Breverb

Anderton

Sidroe
Be advised, Sonitus plugs are no longer provided in Sonar. As of X3 they now include the Blue Tubes line. I was sort of on the fence with the new plugs but they are really starting to win me over.

Sonitus plugs are provided with Sonar, and I still think they're both underrated and relevant. The reverb is showing its age, but the delay and modulation effects still do tricks other processors can't do.

Even though I use the Quad Curve EQ all the time, I do like the Sonitus EQ for some things.