Upgrading to Windows 7 x64 - looks like I need to invest in higher quality recording h/w?

I have not purchased computer or audio hardware in 7 years.   I'm a noob at this and I don't know what asio, adat and a flurry of other audio hardware terms mean.   The only hardware I've ever owned was a Delta 1010LT and an m-audio mobilepre USB.  I looked at upgrading to E-MU 1616m but it looks like if I want to purchase something that is professional with good tech support, and support for x64, I need to increase my budget and look at:
 
(There are 'top brands'?) RME, Lynx, Edirol?
(These are mid level or poor brands?) M-audio, Presonus, Creative Labs, E-mu?
 
I am upgrading to a new Windows 7 x64 computer (I need it for video production).  I am in search of new hardware that will work well with x64.
I'm a total newbie with recording hardware.  Here's what I plan on using in my setup, maybe somebody can give me their opinions on what kind of hardware will help me incorporate everything together:
 
Instruments:
Yamaha DGX-505 midi / electronic keyboard
Yamaha DTXpress IV midi / e-drum kit
Gretsch G5120 f-hole electric
Some microphones (have no idea what they are, they are for vocals)
(Will be buying an Acoustic guitar)
(Will be buying an Electric bass guitar)
(Maybe will consider purchasing real drum kit and cheap recording setup for real kit)
I love to play and practice various instruments 2-3 hours every day when I get home from work.
Software I've used, want to use, own, or want to own:
Sonar
SoundForge (this is defunct now?)
GigaStudio (this is defunct now?)
EZDrummer/Superior Drummer or similar (basically gigastudio for drums)
Recording hardware:
 
EL-crapp built-in sound card (doesn't work with most popular software, is not asio or whatever it's called) Only things I own are a cheap amp, and a presonus firebox? (their cheaperish firewire recording interface) I'm not too worried about salvaging these items if they don't work well with my new recording setup
  
I don't want to own a giant rack of stuff just yet, just looking for some equipment I can incorporate with my home PC that will let me hook up all the basic instruments for recording.  I don't want USB (I've used a few usb boxes and latency is crap on all of them).  I would consider firewire but my gut says to go with PCI/PCIe with some sort of external interface, this really solves all the problems with USB and firewire for a few extra bucks?  Plus I need a good sound card anyway, in order for Sonar to work with all the plugins I want to run.  Compatibility with all the major software is a must. 
 
I guess my budget needs to be somewhere in the $1k-$5k?  This means $1k-$5k total, not $1k-$5k for a PCIe card, but then another $1k here and $1k there for addons.  I'm talking package deal.  If I want to buy something that I'm going to be happy with over the years?
 
I'm not talented so I'm not looking for gold plated system, but I'm not just screwing around either so I'd rather avoid the low and low-to-mid level junk, if I can't do that with this budget just let me know that I'm being unrealistic and I can re-evaluate my situation here :-)

GigaStudio (this is defunct now?)

yes, tascam abandoned it and Garritan bought it from them, but they haven't done anything with it yet.  I would advise going with Kontakt by NI instead.

as far as soundcards go, check my website for some entry/mid level interfaces.  it depends on your needs and what your budget is as to what soundcard I'd recommend and I'm not clear how much of your budget is priority for the soundcard and how much is priority for the other stuff.

Motu makes several very nice interfaces in your price range. Also like Tap mentioned, if you plan to record live drums you'll want something with at least 8 seperate pre's.

Adding Echo and Motu to the list of consideration.

I'm ruling out the E-MU because of the stuff in this post below.  Which is very sad because as I understand it the hardware itself is very good quality:

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?high=&m=1914930&mpage=1#1971108

Apparently E-MU support specifically states that they aren't going to bother with windows 7 support (let alone windows 7 x64 support).  Forget that - I want to buy an interface from a company that knows and understands windows and buys the microsoft development kits and does the work to make it work.  If a company's software developers can't even figure out windows 7 (I'm not saying it's easy by any means) then that's a red flag to find somebody else, in my opinion.  In this day and age, I have zero tolerance for companies who refuse to support new windows o/s.  It says a lot about that company. 

Ok, I'll read through those other websites. Honestly I'm confused as heck, with the EMU-1616M I was getting everything I needed.  With the higher end companies, especially like RME, they don't specifically sell a package deal.  They sell a bunch of cards and I can't tell what the heck I am buying.  I guess I get confused when I see a company selling a PCI card for $2,000 with no jacks or plugs on the back?  I mean, I need like a box with a bunch of places to plug in guitars and mics, no?  Can anybody recommend a similar package setup to the 1616M or 1820M?  The EMU stuff sounded great for a noobie like me but no windows 7 support is a show-stopper - I've been down the 'we don't support you, sorry' road when I owned my crapp M-Audio equipment (they are kings of 'oh, sorry, maybe in the next release', at least 5 years ago when I owned their stuff)

Ok so I think I realize that Layla and Gina are not what I want, because don't I also need a sound card?  Or am I wrong here.  I.e. when I try to use my old crappy motherboard's built-in sound card, I can't run ezdrummer and I can't use half the stuff in Cakewalk because it says I have a crappy sound card and that I need to buy one with some sort of certification. 

So if I buy Gina or Layla are they just the input/output interface that also include a PCI card, but then I need to buy a second PCI card that is just a sound card?

Ok the Motu HD192 has 'xlr' plugs on the back (is that right, these are the plugs with like 3 prongs or 3 holes).  Ok so why would a guy chose XLR over 1/4" RCA?

Also, all the motu stuff looks like it has a firewire port on the back, but these were supposed to be PCI interfaces, so what gives?

Ok so the RME PCI card has firewire on it too.  So really there is no such thing as much a PCIE gizmo that doesn't use frickin' firewire?  What's the point of buying a PCIe card if it is just using firewire to connect to an external box?  Why not just buy a pure firewire box and use the firewire port on your PC?

I guess a lot of these setups don't make any sense to me, I thought the point of recording was to have a different channel in Cakewalk for every different mic.  But as far as I can tell, most of these PCI cards just have a couple of inputs and you end up pre-mixing everything before it even hits Cakewalk.

Doesn't that make computer editing difficult to impossible?  Isn't it best to get as many channels of unmixed stuff recorded onto your computer's hard drive first?

I have a Echo Layla 24 and was thinking of converting to W7 64 tonight, ill check on the driver problem, did it work in vista64?  maybe ill stick with vista for now,  BTW M Audio has released beta drivers for 64 bit systems for most of the legacy products jus a few days ago, will be trying that this weekend also. 

My Layla 3G works great in Win 7 x64 Ultimate! Have you installed newer drivers, my card has been working since Day 1 and that was end of Summer- beginning of Fall. Before that I was running Vista Ultimate 32-bit.

stamina666- The Layla 3G IS a PCI soundcard, but instead of having to screw around with the back of your machine every time you want to change your cables it has a breakout box that has a 15' cable to allow you to put it on your desk or table and access all the inputs and outputs where it's more convenient. You can also add as many more Laylas as you have PCI slots. You just need to sync them together by making one card the master and the rest slaves!

Stick with PCI or PCI-X if you want reliability and speed. Plugging a firewire card into a PCI slot to plug your interface into is sort of like drinking beer through cheesecloth :)

Bill

lol all 'pro' soundcards do ASIO, yes they all work with CW and all VSTis..............it depends what you want. getting a soundcard with ADAT connectivity means in the future, if you need to mike a drumkit, you can quickly and more cheaply add something like the ADA8000, as kits tend to need 4 mikes plus...if you don't need all this stuff yet, then you don't need to spend as much money!