As a practical matter, there are virtually no commercial recordings that utilize more than 20 bits. Infact, within the recording industry, the last 4 bits of a 24-bit system are referred to as "marketing bits". Therefore, for the foreseeable future, any machine that provides true 20-bit playback is about as good as it gets. 18-bit reproduction will be -- at best -- a marginal improvement over 20-bit. (These statements are not mine personally -- they were remarks from several of the top recording industry pros, several of whom attended the last meeting of our Northwest audio club.)
