I was gonna mention IK but I have no personal experience with their stuff so I left it off. Seems quite a few people use them though so I'm sure they'll be okay to.

That wasn't really meant to be a complete list. Just companies that you can be pretty sure are gonna put out stuff that will work with Sonar. I've bought stuff from all of those companies except for Softube and Izotope but the Softube Sat knob is included in Sonar these days and it works flawlessly and Izotope made some of the time warping algorithms and other things in Sonar so they are known to work (also tons of guys here use both brands).

Cheers, dude. I'm glad you joined. You've been a good poster thus far and I hope you get what you want out of the program.

Yea, play with cake and introduce 3rd party stuff.  I find I keep going back to the same batches of plugs for the same kind of things.  But the CA comp and 1176 are great and get used on just about every track, sometimes together.  Same for the ssl on the bus.  Perfect space.  The PC EQ is darn fine.  That is all in Pro.

Added stuff - time shifting stuff from Nomad Audio's Blue Tubes.  it is old but good.  Their BT channel strip is pretty good and contains most common track units.  It sounds a bit cloudier than the PC, and is kinda of a steady state effect, but can work.  Some of their more modern effects are well respected.  The Stienberg RND effects are great - I just couldn't justify the cost since the PC covers most of the eq already, tho the RND comp is very tasty.

If Cake has a sale of the Softube package, that is worthwhile.  Breeverb has kinda taken the sting out of reverbs in Cake (and, by the by, do try their free 3rd FX package for some reverb), but the focusing EQ is unique and the FET comp (1176 comp) is a bit more flexible than the PC 1176.

@

those antress plug-ins are pants, variety of sound probably do the best freeware processors http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/vst-effects/

scook


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.

Definitely and it should be noted that I don't really buy a ton of stuff but the stuff that I do I make sure I scour/ask the forum about before taking the plunge. I've had very good luck so far going about things this way and really only need to make a few more purchases before my set up will be rounded out the way I'd like.

Specifically I want to pickup the Concrete Limiter, Ozone, ARC, the Focusrite VRM stuff, maybe some Kontakt stuff and upgrade my BFD Eco to BFD 2. With that and everything I've already got I don't think I'll need much else to do what I want.

I like iZotope Alloy 2 as my Mr. Fixit track plugin. To me it's the mother of all plugins with no weak link. Visual feedback is unmatched, plus you get all these modules to tailor your sound. 

Between the stock Cakewalk plugins, the PC2A, of course, and iZotope Alloy, my mix needs are, for all intents and purposes, sorted. Needless to say, I also own $$$$ of other 3rd party plugs...

and no mention of fab filter's plugs yet?!?!. I dunno :).. far from cheap, but if you save up till xmas you get a good deal on em :)

I bought alloy2 recently due to the de-sser being the only FF thing I didn't have.

Oh, yeah FF was mentioned earlier WRT EQ. They are like Frank's Red Hot Sauce for me. This thread could go on for a while.

Hi redbarchetta,

For years all I used were the plug-in's that come with Sonar. They are still all I use, only I have added Melda's suite of free VST's, and when I got the demo of Guitar Rig 4 with SPE8.0 (I think it was 8.0), I upgraded that to the full version. The only soft synths I use are the ones that come with Sonar and a free one that Kontakt put out. So basically, I'm one of those users that uses Sonar PE to it's full extent so to speak.

I still say that the old Cakewalk Amp Sim is the best amp sim I've ever heard. It's old, ugly by today's standards, but man it sounds good. Throw Z3ta in the FX Bin with it, and you can have some incredible guitar sounds. The reverb in Z3ta is excellent, I really think it's one of those little forgotten gems.

I know Beepster is leery of 3rd party VST's, and rightfully so, but Melda is a professional company that offers professional VST's. Their free suite of VST's can be 'unlocked' to give you more features for a fee. They are 32 & 64 bit, VST2 & VST3, and use very little system resources.

The only EQ I use now is Melda's free one because it has a built in Analyzer and has a lot more features than Sonitus. It has a built in Sonogram as well, but you have to purchase a license. It's on sale this month for $27 bucks. Normally it's $36. Well worth every penny.

I use them extensively and have never had a lockup or crash because of them.

DO NOT DOWNLOAD THE DEMO OF THEIR 'TOTAL BUNDLE'! You'll sell your soul to get the $450 bucks to unlock it when the 14 day fully functional trial runs out. It is by far the best value there is though. You get free updates and upgrades for life. If you buy the 'Total Bundle' now, you get any and all new VST's the put out in the future at no charge, and version updates ... for ever. I've been using the Dynamic EQ and the AutoVolume VST ... I don't know how I'm going to live without them when the trial runs out. :(

I'm not putting down Ozone or any other mastering suite, but IMO, they are way over priced. There are other alternatives that are just a good, if not better.

Bub, I tried mentioning the MeldaProductions stuff earlier in the thread. I just looked at the website, apparently the sale has gone a little in favor of the Euro as the license is estimated @ $29 today. It still represents a good value. Trying to resist adding any more quality vendors to the growing list, so as not to overwhelm the OP (even though other's might benefit from reading thread).

"The only EQ I use now is Melda's free one because it has a built in Analyzer and has a lot more features than Sonitus." i bought their dynamic eq, thats a peach, bought one of their reverb's, multi analyser and a multi band distortion, paid to unlock their free suite as well, cant go wrong with melda