Depending on the song, my mastering tools choices are (in order of probable use):
 
1. Slate FG-X (for simple Rock, Metal and Pop)
2. Ozone 7 Advanced (for more sophisticated mastering)
3. Lurrsen Mastering Console (for Q&D of an already damn fine mix)
4. IK Multimedia T-Racks
5. UAD Precision Series

dcumpian
 
 
Many beginners and hobbyists assume that more expensive plugins will make your music sound better. I've been there myself, and it simply isn't true, as long as the plugins used are, at the very least, transparent. 
 
 

^^^this is good
 
But, if you have a little spending cash for such things, wait for a sale (you won't have to wait long) and dive in to a few third party offerings anyway.
 
I run Sonar Artist, which comes with minimal bloat, and rely on the third party plugins I have come to know. I got on okay with the stock plugs but succumbed to the "more $$$ + intentional design = better sound" paradigm. I actually don't regret it though.
 
I don't have any Waves plug-ins at the moment, but I used to have lots, until they kicked in with their yearly update fee or whatever that was. If they still do that, it totally sucks.
 
I'd recommend you look at Fab Filter Pro-L limiter, and a nice convolution reverb like QL Spaces. I think the stock set of Sonar plugs is deficient in those two areas.
 
Another "third party" concept for you is not effects, but sounds/instruments. You could spend eons coaxing something out of Dimension Pro, and there is some good stuff in there, but holy moly if you get Kontakt that opens up whole worlds of sonic awesome, some of which requires minimal tweaking with effects of your part.
 
Ozone is a beast, I have it, others love it, but I'd say the learning curve is steep (it's a powerful program) for example one of its modules lets you add different levels of sonic excitement to different frequency bands. That's kind of useful. However, in the wrong hands it can EASILY screw up a mix, and you might throw hours down a rat hole. And I'd argue that other third party offerings are more transparent in their treatment of your sound.
 
 
so what I'm saying is, good luck! Post some songs and get feedback from others like yourself, I've found that very useful in surfing the learning curve.
 
-Tom
 
 

A year's subscription to Groove3 (And then, of course, watching and absorbing as many videos as you can) will do more for your music productions than any VST purchase.

Unless you make your living with Sonar or are wanting to try and compete with the best mix engineers out there, there is really no reason to invest in any (or many) third party plugins if you own Sonar Platinum.  And even then...if you can't make a great sounding track using just the plugs that come with SPLAT, you probably won't fair any better with third party plugs.  Save yourself both time and money and don't fall prey to what many of us here already have and cannot get shut of...GAS.
 
 
Now third party INSTRUMENTS...is a whole nother thang!

JonD
A year's subscription to Groove3 (And then, of course, watching and absorbing as many videos as you can) will do more for your music productions than any VST purchase.

Forgot about the watching part.

JonD
A year's subscription to Groove3 (And then, of course, watching and absorbing as many videos as you can) will do more for your music productions than any VST purchase.

 
Watching and learning something new from a Groove 3 video  has been one of the things that has helped me a lot when I'm sitting here on the sidelines wishing I had the money available to spend on some of the super hot VST software deals when they are happening .
Watching the vid helps me cope with not having the bucks . Plus in most cases I usually learn something new ...
 
I know I can say this publicly here on the forum and be totally OK with it ...
My other secret weapon / coping skill  is a rather tough pill to swallow ....yet I know it's true ....
 
I've asked myself this question given my current level of skill   
What would happen if I sat down to do music on Noels computer , Craig A's computer , Bapu's computer , yorolpal's  computer or any other forum member that is known for having a choice selection of plugs and top shelf VST tools ...
As much as I would like to believe that skill wise  I would be instantly transformed into something just like a musical  Cinderella that finally get invited to the Ball .
The truth is , for me  it would be much more accurate for me to say that using one of the above mentioned persons computers at  my current level of skill with all the cool plugs they have would probably equal I simply might just get lucky ....
When I say lucky ,realistically I'm talking more a long the lines of a blind squirrel that found a nut simply because he just got lucky ...not because he knew where or how to find it ....
alright my confession is now over  lol
 
all the best,
 
Kenny 
 

I am in the same boat as the OP, mabye a bit more advanced as I am both an artist and an IT person.
 
Have spent a lot of time looking at plugins, both on the deals page, and magazine reviews from SOS, CM and FM.
 
After 3 months of studying them all, have come to the conclusion, that the ones in cakewalk are good enough, unless you like the look of another tool for workflow purposes or specific sounds/tasks, in which case you will know what u need.
 
I looked at waves stuff a lot, because everyone sort of talks it up, but think I would rather get the Fabfilter bundles (25% off until end of month at http://www.fabfilter.com/shop/), or If I had money to burn, and needed to feed my ego, some UAD stuff with hardware to reduce processor load.  But what I think I will end up doing is wait for a sale in Cakewalks store, get the caekwalk pack with the CA-2, and some of the Blue stuff, for no other reason than if  I really need new toys to play with, I may as well spend my dough in a place where it might get invested back into updates for the DAW that I am using.
 
However, at moment, I think my money is much better spent on getting high quality instruments and studio hardware such as better quality monitor speakers and headphones so I can better hear when to apply my exist plugins, or even a hardware synth (I am very eager to see what the new Behringer is going to be like).
 
I am also following this thread, because I very nearly asked the very same question the OP did a few weeks ago, before deciding that I dont want to become a plugin collector :)

Mesh
IK's T-Racks are also excellent. The best way (most economical) to get them is when IK has a group buy or some other major sale (like the one going on right now). They have become my go to and it's very easy to tweak to get very good results.

Another T-TrackS fan here.  Watch for bundle deals
 
I use stuff from Waves Gold quite a bit too.  GTR was a surprise gem in Gold.  Watch for bundle deals

Like you, I'm mixing and mastering my own songs.  The first few plugins I added were IK-Multimedia's T-RackS Classic bundle, then the Waves Renaissance Channel Strip, and then Ozone 5 I think.  I followed that with several more, including the ProChannel bundle from Cakewalk, but there are only a few that I use regularly.  I rarely tried a demo, I'd just go for the sale - watch out for the 'Deals' forum and all of those YouTube videos using 3rd Party Fx - but trying demos is probably the smarter way to go.
 
The only thing that's really missing from Sonar is a Mastering suite, and mainly just a loudness maximizer like the Waves L2 or the one bundled in Ozone.
 
 
 
 
 

bapu
3rd party plugs are a sinkhole for your wallet. I know. You can end up with hundreds (if not thousands) of choices and it can be daunting when you just want to get your song done.
 
Kenny and Dan pretty much have the right of it. Learn what you have and then decide if what have is not quite getting you there. Then go back and really figure out why and chances are you don't need anything new.
 
Just remember:
“It did what all ads are supposed to do: create an anxiety relievable by purchase.” 
― David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest

That comment is dead on.  Like others I've gone through a TON of plugins and now regularly use about 20.  If I could be so bold as to offer any advice, I'd say listen to your recordings and see what you think they lack and then go from there.
 
As a closing note: years ago I bought a Roland VS840 8-track digital recorder.  It was nothing exceptional. It had acceptable preamps and had some on-board digital effects.  Included with it were several songs that were recorded ONLY with the VS840 and additional mics.  THEY SOUNDED BEAUTIFUL!!  I learned then that it's not so much the equipment you have, as how you use it.  Maybe in addition to looking at plugins you might also spend some time studying mic placement and room acoustics.  I think those two things could give you gigantic gains in your recordings.
 
Best of luck to you!