Reply to Can you recommend me a 4 IN/4 OUT USB or FW soundcard

Hi,

I'm really in need of a soundcard. My monitors are directly hooked up to my laptop at the moment.
(Yes I get crackling/static occasionally)

This is what the soundcard should be able to do:

In the studio:
-Something decent to hook my monitors up to (they use RCA)
-Easy to reach knobs for output volume/gain
-Need to be able to plug in a mic
-Headphone out would be nice

DJ setup:
-1 input for recording the mix
-1 input for a send/return
-1 output for a send/return
(send/return probably with Xone 92, but that's for the future)
-1 output to go to a mixer channel
-another output to route maschine on would be nice but not required.

I asked an ableton instructor what he would recommend and he said I was a fool if I didn't get FireWire, but I believe I'm going to go for a USB interface to keep the cost down.

I really have no idea what I should pick.