Shin-Kobe station is located in Kobe, Hyogo prefecture. This is a station for Sanyo Shinkansen, Kobe subway Seishin-Yamate line and Hokushin Kyuko Railway Hokushin line, but unfortunately not the main station of Kobe, which is one of the metropolis of Japan, which population is over 1.5 million.
The main station of Kobe is not Kobe station which is the terminus of JR Tokaido main line which connects Tokyo station, but Sannomiya station is the main station and most busiest station in Kobe. Due to no JR line connecting at Shin-Kobe, if you want to go to Sannomiya or other places in Kobe, you have to take the subway or the Hokushin line which is out of Japan Rail pass.
Shin-Kobe is after Shin-Osaka when you are coming from Tokyo or Nagoya direction, may be it is better to change at Shin-Osaka to JR Kobe line(which is a part of JR Tokaido line) in case you are heading to Kobe. Definitely better to change at Shin-Osaka in case you took a Hikari train bound for Shin-Osaka.
On the other hand, if you are traveling from Kyushu or Hiroshima to Kyoto or Tokyo with Japan Rail Pass, better to change the trains at Shin-Kobe. Take the Sakura train to Shin-Kobe and wait at the same platform for the next available Hikari train bound for Tokyo. If you are changing at Shin-Osaka, you have to move to the different platform.