I also read that the latest Beatles release that was so highly touted as Hi Rez is merely a 24 bit remastering of the master tapes that was down converted to 16 bit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_(The_Beatles_album) see Remastering section
That's the extent of the purity of the latest Beatles CDs or downloads and yet most reviews go over the top claiming Hi Rez, but is it? The sound is better but their not getting blood out of a stone, just a damn good 16 bit recording.
Go figure. (If I misread or misunderstood the article, please set me straight)
There was a FLAC version on USB thumb drive in 44.1/24 but that's the extent of Hi Rez that the public got.
Marketing has its place.
All the best,
Nonoise