What kind of outboard processors can you use...assuming there's some magical way to get them into the computer and not the tracks (so taht you can use outboard hardware and effects and processors without running them in line...as if they were a plugin)? Do these exists...or is it another one of my stupid quiestions:

'Or can you?'

i think there are some that are like outboard firewire processors dedicated to VST plugins or something - tc electronics powercore it think was the name, i dunno. But otherwise if you have multiple outputs/inputs on your soundcard you can chain in analog (or digital using spdf or whatever) hardware effects just as you would from an analog mixing board.