ANy M-Audio to Echo or RME users on this board?

[foamboy]

Hello. I am currently using an M-Audio Audiophile 24/96 and I have been for approx 5yrs. Although,I think it has served me well, I am starting to wonder if it is really giving me an accurate picture of my audio playback. I have always thought that it had a bit of a strange mid range hype as well as some low mid mud,but I just thought it was my crappy room. Now that I have some basic room treatment (Auralex panels and lenrds----soon to be some proper bass traps)I hear my M Audio in a different light. To be honest,my new laptop onboard card sounds a slight bit better. Ok, nuff of the prelogue.

I am considering either the Echo Gina or Layla or the RME9532. I have chosen these because they are PCI and not FW or USB. I just feel better using a PCI device. I also considered the Lynx Two,but it might be a bit out of my range.

So...here goes.....in your opinion which of the above would be a "better" upgrade?

The Echo line is appealing b/c of the muliple mic "pre's",but I think that having a solid clock is probably more important in case I am ever able to get another device to connect via word clock or sdpif. Anyhow,the reason I don't entertain the idea of getting a much higher quality DAC is b/c I just don't think my room or monitoring are up to that level-yet. At this point I just would like something that is a bit more accurate than my M Audio. Of course,I am willing to accept the fact that anything below $1k is probably all the same,but I just thought I'd ask.

Thanks a lot.

foamboy