On 21/08/2014 18:39, John Williamson wrote:

The shortest chain I've used was Orchestra - Zoom H2 set to 24 bit -
headphones. Even on that, I noticed a reduction in sound quality, mostly
due to the headphones. By the time it got to CD, it was noticeably
inferior, ...

That seems dubious. How many bits do you need? 18? 20? 22?
What sample rate is the minimum required for perfect sound?

--
Eiron.