im needing to get a new setup because ive outgrown my USB and on-board sound card, my question; in the long run wats the best way to monitor mostly in headphones while being able to record? ive looked into stuff like mixing boards that u could hookup via stereo RCA cable and have a place that you could hook up headphones that require a strong amp (which is a must) to get full benifit of clarity plus all the mic hookups and chaining options u could ever want so basically wat would be the best way to have the sound go in my computer and have my sound play after its ran through my software in my comp pref with this setup? some more specific concerns- is there a way to listen from the mixer in the order i would like it or would i only be able to listen to wat came through the mixer ie vocals and instruments not software effects etc? would i need a stereo RCA out on the sound card? would i need to worry about volume issues and stuff since this type of gear is meant for a more traditional studio? is there any drawbacks to this setup? is firewire interface setup a better option to the RCA quality wise? and finally is there a better way to set thangs up thats NOT USB? 

Note: i will be purchasing an onboard sound card that accommodates stereo RCA inputs.

*********SKIP IF YOU ALREADY KNOW WHY USB SUCKS*********

while USB is the obvious option for typical PC users i am well beyond the typical user and have numerous devices syncing to my comp at any given time, while doing stuff like skyping (i use a usb mic for that), playing midi devices (usually they're ran through a usb adapter), etc long story short if you dont "need" to have multiple usb devices hooked up sending and receiving data from ur computer (esp if u have dongles and wat not) usb is a great option for a home studio; however, in my case (sadly) it is not even an option.

Firewire is faster but that does not mean better quality. It could mean better performance though.

You might need someting like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002M3TQ30/?tag=warbeats-20&

or some digital mixer:

http://www.amazon.com/mn/search/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=warbeats-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=digital%20mixer&url=search-alias%3Dmi

Just to add to what NFX said.

USB3 is actually faster then the current firewire, granted there are not alot of devices to choose from yet, just saying. Furthermore (on the topic of USB), why not get anice large size powered USB hub to accomadate all your non system crucial stuff. I mean things that you do not need to run at the same time but still like to keep connected to your computer will live just fine witht the hub and it will free up your ports for things that do not like to be interrupted.

You metioned getting a onboard soundcard so I quess you are running a desktop/rower PC and not a laptop. While at this stage one would propably be fine using one of the new creative soundblasters. I would still like to put a word in for the M-audio delta line of PCI cards. They come with RCA connectors (all except the Delta 1010, which has 8 mono TELE inputs in the breakout box) and the performance and drivers are rock solid.

hands down my biggest issue with the whole usb thang is i have external hdd's that are all usb 2.0 and have become so integrated in my current system i have actually gotten blue screens from unhooking them ive even had to re install windows because of harddrives becoming corrupted or getting unplugged without realizing it and jumping to worst case. this isnt even mentioning everyone i collab with has there own setup so stuff like extra hdd's, flash drive, and extremely specific mic setups often involving crazy wierd (insert cord name here) to usb 2.0... while i know this isnt a "great" setup esp for audio i did it before i actually knew wat i was doin thats y im starting over with a setup that no matter what happens in the future hookup and expansion wise i dont want problems like this again in which artificial bottle necks (aka nerfing my otherwise well above average current setup) happen that dont have anything to do with stuff like the actual cpu, motherboard, etc... i guess to be blunt i want to make this comp as idiot proof as possible because while im fairly smart, when i get rlly tired from sitting and making stuff for 12-18 hours sometimes pulling 24 hour sessions i get kinda... off, meaning i have impulse problems as is theres no way i can predict what my next, at the time genius idea, might bring in terms of success, to add to this while on paper something can be way better than ur current gear spec wise theres a lot of other stuff to consider than what comes in the specs which coming from a more gaming side of pc's it takes a minute to understand and am still learning at the moment.... as a quick hit on the firewire thang im leaning that way over usb because usb has more shared ports than firewire (typically) like for example ur likely to have 2-4 usb running the same "bandwidth" even internally whereas being a pc user theres almost a zero percent chance ill ever have more than one firewire port in use at one time that in almost all cases i would have to add on the input myself anyways, being able to transfer as much data the chord and socket could handle seems in my eyes a good trade off even if the format is getting "phased" out and its not exactly the easiest option (pc user wise). the rca style hookup is obvious in that adapters for cables while not a bad thang, lead (as far as i know) to no gain and almost always some loss in functionality or overall speed of travel also adding fuzz and crap along the way. and these two are the seeming only options for me because eventually i will be adding functions such as being able to accommodate the capture of a fully live performed beat (minus latency of course lol) which is one of my goals ive been striving towards from day one. i will admit though i never thought of hooking all the non essential thangs to seperate hubs than my audio interface and kinda quarantining it ill actually be able to at least work up until i get the new setup if i dont collab with anyone until then lol. as for the links they were extremely helpful, for some reason my search results were WWWAAAYYY different than urs with almost the exact words and order... odd. so compared to the already purposed great options how would this compare:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002VDQIP0/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&m=A21Z5WJQSGVB69

well thnx for the input im sure u guys not only helped me but a good share of ppl who "know" what there doing lol and also srry bout all the missed backstory tried to be thorough and forgot some prtty important stuff like i will be building my comp from the ground up as a beasty DAW machine that will best be able to accomidate pro or high end consumer gear, that is able to run graphics, and i luv the feel of the solid weighty old school gear so the least amount of adapters is preferred. mac not an option period and finally it will be a windows 7 pc that is built to accommodate 8 when MS gets past the intial release bugs that seem to plague all MS software. but seeing as i have what seems to be the best options already this is more of a last chance to point out if i missed something or throw in a vote for which one i should get firewire or more of an internal solution (involving a more direct rca style hookup) such as the one in the link or any of the m-audio which while good for the price seem like theyre gonna get a newer iteration any day now unless m-audio rlly has switched its focus on its higher end lineup like it seems as of late. **Quick Note: when i get the detailed item list ill post it here for anyone who wants an easy DIY PC setup buy list for a good audio geared machine and im trying to keep it under $1500 minus monitors because thats totally personal choice for all the meanings of the word monitor and u rlly should have them or know that part of the equation if ur looking at a solution like this one otherwise chances are that usb would be overkill for what u need and trust me they r amazing quality in almost all situations**

I have had up to 7.. yes 7 external drives so I know your pain. Now I am leaning towards keeping everything on the local drive and one external for backup.

I have had up to 7.. yes 7 external drives so I know your pain. Now I am leaning towards keeping everything on the local drive and one external for backup.

What I would do, would be to get a NAS unit with atleast two harddrive slots. That way you can have about 4TT of backup space for your whole network. The nifty part with it is thta most of the decent ones also have USB connectivity. Meaning you can hookup your printer and external harddrives to the nas instead of your computer and still have access to them over your local network.

The problem with the external drives is usually soddy USB controllers, I've had two fail on me inside of couple of months. I usually just tend to break into (and I mean break into, some of them are harder thena rubiks cube) the enclosure and take out the HDD, which is just your regular 3.5 inch drive and chuck into my computer internally instead.

If you got for a NAS... I do not recommend a Stora device. They are OK except that they do not play very nice with Macs in me experience. I've also used an Ximeta brand NDAS and it required a driver to use and did not allow more than one computer to access a reqource at a time.