Now hang on...knowing what a converter is and understanding digital audio do not qualify a person's ears! While it is helpful to understand the technology you're using so that you can make smart decisions, it really all boils down to sound.
The ultimate answer to your question, then is: the one that sounds best. Looking at converter specifications will not help you determine which soundcard sounds best.
The Delta44 and Delta66 use the same exact converters. In fact, they are the same beast except that the 66 also includes SPDIF. I've owned a Delta44 and think that for the price they sound pretty dang good.
I can't comment on the egosys because I've never heard it.
As far as 88 vs 96 goes, I think it really boils down to the software you use for resampling. If you were using something like Wavelab or Soundforge I'd say that the conversion will not pose audible problems. I have, however, heard very audible problems with sample rate conversion in some software, like n-Track. If recording at 88khz alleviates this problem then more power to you, but I'd still look for some software that can perform tasks like these effectively.
I personally record at 24/44 because I use a lot of different software on each project, and 44 is the lowest common denominator between them all. Also, I've found that 96khz recording is very taxing on a system. It's definately not appropriate to sacrifice usability for sound quality, because you really need both to make a good recording!
Slackmaster 2000
