After reading the original post and some of the responses, I thought I
would put in my two cents worth.

In conversations with various knowledgable persons ranging from head
bangers and tube enthusiasts to engineers for various recording
equipment
and recording studios, as well as my own experience as a technician and
music lover, I have concluded that the sampling rate and bit depth
required depends on the equipment used to play the recording.

Most of today's equipment has been termed "mid-fi" by the professionals
with whom I've spoken. Les Bateman of Sounds Interchange in Toronto,
Canada stated to me that with 16-bits, distortion of the lowest level
signals was audible with their equipment, while I've heard only one
"average listener" who has ever experienced this. This probably
disqualifies him as an "average" listener.

In short: if you have equipment capable of reproducing program material
with an expanded dynamic range, as well as sufficient specs for THD,
IMD,
etc., then you will very possibly benifit from increased sampling rates
and bit depths. If you listen to your music through a low-end Lloyds,
don't waste your money on DVD-A. Those of you somewhere in between;
make
your own choice.


Haplo