Im using 96 24 b for mastering .. then downsample everything ... i think that the reverbs i'm using in my songs dont cut hard at 22 khz ..
I'm always rendering (from reason and cubase) my songs at the highest bitrate and samplerate (24B 96 khz or 32B) .
Then when the effects (read smash the mix to be as loud as commercial stuff) are applied in soundforge i downwsample .
But the problem musically speaking of course cause i'm not a technical guru , is that compression and maximising give some humph to a digital only mix.
And people (non audiophile of course) prefer the "loud" mix because I think sound is so subjective .. and people are not (not here of course!) aware of any loudness race.
Have you read the pdf from waves L2 ultramaximizer ?
http://www.waves.com/ here's a quote if i may ? hope it's ok :
''The maximum level of a digital signal is governed by the highest peak in the
file. Simple normalization finds the highest peak, then raises the entire signal
so that this peak is at the maximum value. However, many of these peaks
may be of very short duration and can usually be reduced in level by several
dBs with minimal audible side effects. Those familiar with digital editing
systems may even have proved this for themselves by ‘redrawing’ some
trouble-some peaks by hand. By transparently controlling these peaks, the
entire level of the file can be raised several more dB than by simple
normalization resulting in a higher average signal level.
The L2-Ultramaximizer avoids the possibility of overshoot by utilizing a
lookahead technique that allows the system to anticipate and reshape signal
peaks in a way that produces the bare minimum of audible artifacts. Because
there is no possibility of overshoot, L2 can be used with absolute confidence
in situations where brickwall limiting is important.''
Humm the part about brickwall ...
But of course my favorite 'best sounding cd are from the 80s' sting sound of the blue turtle , chik corea electric band (first one) and a classical bethoven piano cd.
anyway that was my 2 cents.