Seems to serve me well, would save $400 or so to not replace with similar...  but the aging PCI slot...?
 

Why replace it if your new machine has a PCI slot.

so the newer builds nowadays still have PCI slots...

guessing the Z77 board seems to be the popular one used too?... and that there are quite a few choices of "Z77" boards at that?

Is that the board recommended for a $1500 for a commercial build, seeing that it does have the PCI slot still?
...and that's one of the reasons they're still used?

And while asking is Echo the only manufacturer still using PCI slots?  When I got my Gina years, years back..then the Layla 20...now a 3G... always good reviews, but nobody seems to really sell them...kinda like the "black market" product that came close to a Motu at half the price.  I think I always got them from B&H cause Sweetwater would never carry them.

You have to be careful with PCI slots on new motherboards. Many new boards use a "bridge" from the PCIe bus for the PCI slots. On these boards some PCI devices may or may not work or work properly. I've built two Z77 motherboard systems recently, my new Sonar system with a Gigabyte Z77X UD5H board (works great but I don't have any PCI devices) and another using an ASRock Z77 Professional. Both of these boards have a PCI slot and I've been told are the bridge or pseudo PCI slots. I just worked a PCI slot problem on the Windows 7 forum that the user was having problems with a PCI firewire card. Turned out the motherboard had one of the "bridged" PCI slots and apparently causing the problem. (sorry for running everything together, I'm using Firefox browser and this forum does that with Firefox).

Layla was my first (ca. 1997 … first generation).

Currently I am using a Delta 1010 with a PCI card (not PCIe) in a Jim Roseberry StudioCat i7 ProStudio that was just over $1600 in 2010.  Performance is rock solid.

If you contact them directly (I spoke to Jim on the phone several times when making my decision) he will clarify any concerns you have wrt compatability.

I have had the Delta 1010 since probably 2007 or ’08.  I looked at the newer generation Layla at the time and since then for price, and it was in the same ballpark as the Delta 1010.  I suspect the Layla and the 1010 are comparable units at some level.

Well Mixmkr, i was in the EXACT same position as you until a week ago. My trusty old Layla 3G needed some new grunt behind it, so I built a new computer around a Z77 motherboard. 

It worked OK but not great. Even after getting dpc latency down by disabling the usual culprits ( wireless, auto cpu speed stuff, hpet, etc etc) I still couldn't operate trouble free at low latencies. After fiddling for days with settings and drivers etc, I'd had enough. Luckily for me, the finance manager (the wife) approved funding for my new RME Babyface interface. All I can say is WOW! I've never experienced performance like it, truly unbelievable.

So based on my experience, if you didn't have the money for a new interface and wanted to build a new system for the Layla, I would absolutely recommend you spend some money on a consultation with Jim or one of the other gurus. If you want to go down the DIY track as I did, I think you can only go so far with a pci interface and newer chipset board unless you really know what you're doing. Good luck, i wish you well! Having been in your shoes exactly a week ago i know where you're at!!   

mixmkr, look at B75 motherboards, or X79 if you want more grunt/overclock. Both support "native" PCI with Ivy/Sandy Bridge cpu's.

millzy, as someone already mentioned, Z77 does not support native PCI, which is probably why your Layla didn't work well in your new system. 

Goddard
millzy, as someone already mentioned, Z77 does not support native PCI, which is probably why your Layla didn't work well in your new system. 

Yeah I knew that from doing a bit of prior reading but I took the gamble anyway knowing that sometimes things work. I had already had approval from the wife to spend some dollars on another interface just in case!! Sad to say bye to my trusty old Layla after all these years BUT so nice to be saying hello Babyface!!