scook


A decent EQ that also shows spectrum (and a bunch of other handy tools, including a limiter) can be had for free http://www.meldaproductio...?id=MFreeEffectsBundle Should you choose to purchase a license, it is on sale for less than $30 for the bundle through the end of the month.

We are trying to limit the amount of plugins the poor OP is inundated with. LOL That bundle which I have and bought has a ton of plugins. 

I do recommend it but only after the OP has explored all the ones in Sonar and knows how to use them.  

John
 

One plugin I recommend is the Voxengo Span which is free and very useful.  

+1 Voxengo Span is an absolute must-have in the VST toolkit.
 
Mind you, I have to be completely honest and say that in my opinion, the newer version (2.5?) isn't half as good as the previous version (1.9). In particular, I find the customisation available on the old version to be far superior.
 
Even though the newest incarnation is available in 64bit, I still use the older 32bit version of 1.9. In fact I believe it's the only Bitbridged plug-in I now use at all in X2.
 

 
 
If anyone wants the .dll of this older version, just PM me your email
 
Edit - I have the manual for it as well.

**duplicate post deleted** 

GUYS!!!! I'm trying to stop looking at toys and you keep putting them in my face!  Free or not. .  See what happens is, I go look at free plugins that lead me to look at their pay for plugins that lead me to look at their bundles that lead me to analysis paralysis. 



Shart man... I started a post, got side tracked came back to finish and I'll be damned if there were more links.. With all these plugins i'm like a kid in a toy store.

I have a bookmark folder in my browser that has about 100 links to freebie plugs that people have raved about on forums. It's a good job I'm lazy because I would have totally downloaded and installed them by now. 

One thing to keep in mind is that third party plug ins (especially free ones) may not play so well with Sonar so be careful. I think a lot of the success I've had with my system being reasonably stable using Sonar is because I've limited myself to 64 bit plug ins (because I have Sonar 64 bit installed) that are either put out directly by Cakewalk or are known to be rock solid in the Sonar environment. 

If you are going to experiment I would recommend creating a restore point before installing any new stuff and learn how to use Sonar Safe Mode properly so if you do run into problems you can easily troubleshoot what plug ins are causing problems.

Cheers.

Beepster


One thing to keep in mind is that third party plug ins (especially free ones) may not play so well with Sonar so be careful. I think a lot of the success I've had with my system being reasonably stable using Sonar is because I've limited myself to 64 bit plug ins (because I have Sonar 64 bit installed) that are either put out directly by Cakewalk or are known to be rock solid in the Sonar environment. 

If you are going to experiment I would recommend creating a restore point before installing any new stuff and learn how to use Sonar Safe Mode properly so if you do run into problems you can easily troubleshoot what plug ins are causing problems.

Cheers.

STRONGLY NOTED!
I think for a while I'm going to play it safe and use Cakewalk stuff. They seem to have everything I need right now anyway.

Other than the spectrum analyzer.  I did just install that. 

It's definitely for the best. Companies I'd say are safe to use are:

Izotope
FXpansion (and Platinum Samples)
Whoever makes that Softube Stuff
Native Instruments
Overloud

and obviously Cakewalk. With those companies you should have a good pool of goodies to play with. It ain't cheap though. Cheers.

You didn't mention IK Multimedia... No go for their T Racks gear?

I believe Beep's list is a little incomplete. Trying to keep within the limits of the thread, I did not want to expand on the list of vendors. There is a forum below that discusses a lot of software options. FWIW, the 1K stuff is popular.