hello all. i will bullet point and skip platitudes, so thank you in advance.

·new project, prosumer/pro gear.
·targeting a&r looksees, for funding, backing.
·will have mastered at pro shop (i live in Bay Area CA), small demo pressing.
·desire excellent commercial quality, but not commercial release.

questions:
fidelity, quality loses/gains - pros/cons 96k 24bit vs 44.1k 16bit? does a 96/24 production give a mastering house more to work with, thereby (hopefully) yielding a better mastered product, or for what i want to do, will keeping it at a lower rate nominally work? (one would hope the music will sell itself, but having a 'resume with no spelling errors' certainly helps)

in other words, with the gear i have..mackies, fast computers, echoaudio cards, great mics, sonar, am i chasing something that only matters if there is truly high-end gear involved, a real studio and pros at the knobs?

·ultimately will wind up 'redbook'
·on a vanity press level, due to lack of mastering expertise and resources, i would start and finish in 'redbook'(obviously not real redbook, 44.1k16bit...redbook is easier to type.)
·i understand the difference in processing power, cpu resources.
·my gear will handle about 24 tracks at 96/24

·any other advice or nuggets...