There is a reason for more bits, but only at the production stage.
Programmers all know about numeric precision, rounding errors and truncation; in post-processing, a whole chain of plugins hands off the signal, does work on it, hands it off again, sums it with the other tracks, etc. It follows that even with the 16/44 pulldown, precision during processing is going to affect the cleanliness of the final mix. The majority of that burden rests on the DAW and the plugin authors(most of whom have gone to 32/64-bit floating point today), plus any external hardware(which is typically analog or 24-bit fixed digital), but it helps to start with a high-precision original recording.
Still, it's mostly a matter for audiophiles, and it has little bearing on the consumer market.
Programmers all know about numeric precision, rounding errors and truncation; in post-processing, a whole chain of plugins hands off the signal, does work on it, hands it off again, sums it with the other tracks, etc. It follows that even with the 16/44 pulldown, precision during processing is going to affect the cleanliness of the final mix. The majority of that burden rests on the DAW and the plugin authors(most of whom have gone to 32/64-bit floating point today), plus any external hardware(which is typically analog or 24-bit fixed digital), but it helps to start with a high-precision original recording.
Still, it's mostly a matter for audiophiles, and it has little bearing on the consumer market.