Arent you confusing recording and consumer formats ? everyone likes to use 24bit of some sample rate (48/96/192 ?) to recording stuff at concert halls and studios.
headroom is great for production everyone's wants that, you can record at safe levels and leave good margins.
But for final delivery for consumption at home i think CD is good enough , I rarely see records even close to limit of this system ?
NO.
Fact is if you want to go to comsumer format, you already have to start at HR, so of course it's 24bit.
Not many have access to LIVE high resolution audio from source, but it's the real problem with doing everything from A-Z. (end to end).
Anyone with decent sound recording experience will hear the difference blind from 24bit to 16.
It's really obvious.
FInding a system which doesn't colour reproduction, seems to be working often in reverse, and that includes the DAC layer.
Headphones are as good as useless for getting any idea of the final result, (we were told not ot use them!) and studios are supposed to have dead dry acoustic.
Disappointment is the term when getting involved with the Hi-end audiophile mob a+ their shops and listening rooms. I haven't found a decent one yet!
Nothing ever worked out there, so I had to make my own.
That is all very well for plain vanilla stereo.
When it comes to surround it's a whole shed load of extra hassle and trouble (of course because so few have even approaching a decent surround system), and then what, most of the team say why bother?
We did a surround recording with the choir off stage in the foyer (that was a challenge), then guess what, all the audience in the front rows started talking and opening sweet papers as they sang...(nothing to see on stage eh!)
I can't remember which it was (surround DVD was done), maybe The Tsar's Bride or Iolanta.
I remember doing a Winterreise in the super acoustic of Metz Arsenal, but on that evening it was thick fog and Udo R sang poorly.
That with the rehearsals and set up was a fascinating lesson in setting up a surround recording system, and we did a Brahms Requiem in a similar way, using the (much underrated and beautiful) calrecs for the rear channels..
'nuff said, it's sliding off topic.
Just saying really, optimising any long chain is tough.
Some DAC have proven to be quite audible over the years, and now we are living in the all digi AES67/Ravenna/Dante world. hmmm.