Fact vs good-enough... Science vs pseudo-science.

TLDR:

I came across a thread that discuss 16-bit vs 24-bit in digital music. 

Some people said 16-bit is good enough and 24-bit is useless. Some said 24-bit is marketing hype for promoting Hi-Res music and its play-back equipments.

Is it true that 24-bit is useless? 

Math is the queen of all science. 

What does Math tell us?

Let's see what the math tell us about 16-bit vs 24-bit:

In digital music (PCM-format), the music is quantized at different sampling time. CD uses 16-bit and Hi-Res use 24-bit (or higher).

For 16-bit quantization, it divides the full dynamic range into 2^16 levels, i.e. 65,536 levels.

For 24-bit quantization, it divides the same full dynamic range into 2^26 levels, i.e. 16,777,216 levels. It is 256 times more than the 16-bit quantization.

It is a hard-core fact that 24-bit is inherently better than 16-bit. 

I my mind, it is very simple. It is like 1.000 is different than 1.001

Math won't lie; only people do...

What do [some] "Audio Science" guys tell us?

However, the people part come in. They would argue with you that 16-bit is "perfect", "good-enough" while 24-bit is "useless", "marketing hype", etc... It is the same when they are arguing 1.000 is same as 1.001

Enough is enough? Pseudo-Science is also science?

Science, not like pseudo-science, is a rigorous subject. Enough is not enough. It is based on objective evidence / measurements; not subjective perception. 

By using the "enough is enough" thinking / reasoning, a lot of things in science would be considered as useless. Here I jst named a few:

1. Relativey is useless; Newton's classical mechanics is good enough. Why? How often do we travel in a speed that is close to the speed of light?

2. Earth is a sphere is useless; flat-earth theory is good enough. Why? How often do we care if the gound is a curve instead of a flat surface?

3. Heliocentrism is useless; geocentrism is good enough. How often do we care if we rotate around the Sun or the Sun rotate around us?

Are you on the "Enough is enough" side? Or you are having a real scientist mindset? It is up to you in the end which side you pick.

For me, enough is not enough. I am the one who keep on seeking more and more knowledge rather than sitting on "well-known" knowledge, like CD-format is perfect for digital music. (FYI, CD was invented in 1979)