I was hoping you experts might be able to answer a newbie question or at least point me in the right direction to a resource.

I have been recording in Logic for 6-7 years at 41K. I just moved to Cubase SX on PC. But, I’ve picked up a number of devices and software over the past couple years (MOTU 828 MK2, EMU 1820M, dbx Preamps…) that support 96K+. I was thinking that I would start moving to a higher sample rate. I've seen quite a few people here that say "go to 88, not 96". and oothers who say "stay at 44!" So, a couple questions:

1.) 44, 88 or 96K?

2.) f I record at 88-96 and down-sample at mixdown, will I get much benefit from this (I am not HDD limited--running 2 DAWs linked via system Link--both P4 3.0s with 1.5Gb Ram)

3.) If I run Cubase at 88-96 but want to use a device (synth or EFX) that only outputs at 41K, am I stuck with analog or can I somehow use the 41K device (other than doing everything that can be done at 96, then downsampleing that to 41 and add 41 stuff)?. Is this worth the hassle?

Before I go spending money and a ton of time converting to 88-96K, I need some help from you experts as to whether it’s really worth it. I have quite a bit of very nice gear and a lot of vintage instruments so I think my inputs are worth of the effort if the effort will make a substantial difference.

Thx to all of you for your tremendous input on everything!