The 24 bit debate

[Jwg1749]

I've heard this argument before. The theory is that when playing at very low volumes, you are as it were "throwing away" bits and hence reducing resolution. i think this may be based on a misunderstanding of sampling theory.

I've had mixed experiences with testing red book vs hi-res files. (I'm assuming here that the red book version is a down-sampled version of an original hi-res master; there is of course no point in comparing red book and hi-res files that have been mastered differently. I'm also assuming the tests are double-blind ABX: again, there's no point in doing any other sort of comparison.) In one test of red book vs 24/44.1 I was unable to hear a difference. In another test of red book vs 24/192 I successfully differentiated the files.

There is a school of thought that says high sample rates can cause distortion in playback equipment. Most playback equipment is only designed to work up to about 22kHz.

EDIT Here are the results of the red book vs 24/44.1 test that I referred to:
http://archimago.blogspot.co.uk/2014_06_01_archive.html