The simple answer is, I don’t do any compensation. Cubase does it all. Cubase knows the input and output latency of your AD/DA.
Yes, I have an array of analog components. There is no delay worth measuring in short runs of cable/analog circuits. It’s essentially, “instantaneous” electricity. An analog compressor or EQ doesn’t have latency.
If we are talking about Digital Outboard equipment, ie, you are going analog out, to analog in on a piece of gear that is then converting the signal to digital for processing then back to analog… this piece of gear will have its own AD/DA and processing latency - This is what you use the ‘Ping’ for in the External FX. Because this piece of gear is not communicating its specifications to Cubase.
Try it yourself, patch your DA right back into the AD and playback/record a test. If there’s no latency in the recorded result, then there would be no latency using an analog compressor or EQ.
If there is latency, you’ve either tweaked something in your settings you should undo, your interface is not reporting correctly, or I’ve heard speculation an improperly coded VST plugin might not report latency correctly.