It is also much easier to mix at 24 bit for all the reasons Schmange mentions.

Have you come across one bit recording, it is totally cool !

Korg have just launched 2 stereo 1 bit field recorders.

Basically they sample in the MHz range and instead of recording a 16 or 24 bit measurements they just record louder (1) or quieter (0). Because the sample rate is so fast the cumulative effect is much batter than a KHz @ 16 or 24 bit signal. It also eliminates the problem of aliasing ! Also, because you are only recording one bit of info per sample, sampling in the MHz ranger used the same amount of disk space as recording 24bit in the KHz range.

Cool hu !!