Welcome to the latest marketing race - DAC resolution. The truth is that despite having 24 bit converters, very few (if any) players truly achieve 24 bit resolution. The amount of precision required in the DACS and all downstage analog circuitry to achieve this is staggering.
I once read that the heat from a candle held several feet away from a 24 bit DAC would be enough to distort the lowest order bits - imagine the engineering required to overcome this.
There are a lot of ingredients that go into a successful player/DAC design, including filters, analog stages, power supplies, construction, and jitter control. DAC resolution is only one of these factors.
Trust your ears.
I once read that the heat from a candle held several feet away from a 24 bit DAC would be enough to distort the lowest order bits - imagine the engineering required to overcome this.
There are a lot of ingredients that go into a successful player/DAC design, including filters, analog stages, power supplies, construction, and jitter control. DAC resolution is only one of these factors.
Trust your ears.