Under no circumstances, never, unless a given performance is not available in any other media, that become lately a huge problem.
I have seen down-converted recordings from 24bits to 16bit that sounded OK. However, I never head anything that was down-converted from 88kHz, 96kHz, 192kHz to 44kHz that had any resemblance to a meaningful Sound.
When we talk about CDs we understand 16/44 format, so any recording or mastering at 16/44, 20/44, 24/44, 28/44 or 32/44 would be fine. However, the recording at any resolution and at higher sampling rate then 44kHz should STAY in THAT format and should NOT be converted to 44kHz because it immediately destroys sound. It destroys sound regardless not many dozens of thousands the converting equipment costs, so stay away from those down-converted recordings….
The only way to down-convert the high-resolution files is to play them at high-resolution into D/C and then A/D them at 44kHz – no one that I know of does it, very unfortunately…. Rgs, Romy the Cat
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