necessity of 24/96 w/out dvd-audio...?

Some feel there is a slight advantage of having quicker DACs with 44/16 CDs. The DACS don't struggle to convert the materials. If you never drive above 65, why buy a car that can go 120? Would a car that can only do 70 be as good?

I have a Rotel 985 which does not support 96/24 conversion. I have used DVD-A players with it, and own a SACD player. I also own several 96/24 discs. With DVD-A, SACD, and 96/24, I need to have the DVD player do the conversion, and pass the signal to my Rotel in analog.

I do not plan to replace my Rotel because it is not 96/24, but if I were in the market for a new pre/pro, I would buy one that is at least 96/24. It has better DACs.

Sort of like will racing gas help my Vdub? Will racing gas help my dragster? Yup in both cases. No speed limits at home.24/96 is a chip. Much like HDCD is a chip. HDCD was originally to decode their discs,but it improved non hdcd ones as well. 24/96......same,but to a much greater degree.Sure put MSB on the map. I had my Theta Gen5a upgraded w/ the 24/96 chip. Most improvement for 300, I can remember.......So how much it helps,depends on what ya' got. Racing gas will burn cleaner/with more power,even in a Vdub.

Just a note to try to help clarify. Back to one of the original questions, ALL regular CDs use a sample rate of 44.1 khz, and a 16 bit word length (as originally specified in the Philips/Sony Red Book). This has not and will not change for regular CDs. Although adding no new information, upsampling increases the sample rate and the word length which adds dither, raising the frequency of the noise and distortion content. Certain theories state (when the ears are not used) that this should not improve the sound quality, but by all accounts (when only the ears are engaged) it does, and by a none-too-subtle margin. I think Sam Tellig (in his own blunt, penny-pinching manner) presents a good, down to earth summary of the process in the February issue of Stereophile. Not to put words in his mouth, but his basic opinion (if you don't want to purchase the issue) is that it is much superior to regular CD without upsampling, even if not to the level of SACD, which by the way he does not think will survive the format war. I know Sam did a great job, because I know I want to buy a DAC with upsampling (poor gullible me!!).