The term "24/96" has turned into a buzzword in audio circles. 
Everybody seems to want to use it, but what exactly is it, and why would 
you want it? 

"24/96" refers to the new practice of digitally recording PCM audio in 24-bits
at a sampling rate of 96 kHz. This is a big step up from today's standard CD 
quality digital audio format, which is stereo 16-bit 44.1 kHz. While it is
true that there are benefits to this great new technology, there are hidden 
costs to using it. You will need to decide if the costs are worth the
benefits. 

1) 24/96 audio uses a lot more hard disk space. A stereo CD quality (16-bit 
   44.1 kHz) file requires 10.5 MB per minute of recorded audio. A stereo 
   24-bit 96kHz file will require roughly 32 MB per minute for stereo. 
   Additional tracks will take even more disk space. 

2) You will need high-end 24-bit capable recording software to go with 
   that 24-bit soundcard before you can record a real 24-bit audio file. 
   This is an additional expense that is often overlooked. 

3) While 24-bit audio lowers the noise floor to new lows, most "bedroom 
   studio musicians" will not be able to take full advantage of this new 
   technology.  If you are a struggling musician with only a hand-held dynamic
   vocal microphone to record with, and you live in a typical house with air
   conditioning, a furnace for the heater, and traffic outside you will likely
   be recording nothing but noise with those extra 8 bits of audio resolution.
   24-bit digital audio is definitely better than 16-bit audio, but it 
   absolutely requires that the signal being recorded be of the absolute 
   highest quality. No number of additional bits will make a bad sounding 
   room, microphone or mixer sound good. 

4) If you are just starting out or you are on a limited budget, you might 
   consider NOT going to 24-bit recording right now.  Think about investing 
   the money you saved in better microphones, better mic preamps, a
   compressor/limiter, a better mixer, better studio monitor speakers, 
   and adding acoustical treatments to your recording room to suppress bad 
   sounding resonances.  These purchases will do more to improve your sound 
   than upgrading to an expensive 24-bit capable soundcard alone. 

5) Remember that today's 16-bit PCI soundcards (like the Turtle Beach 
   Montego II) are much, much better sounding than the Sound Blaster
   compatible ISA soundcards of just a couple of years ago.  Feed clean, 
   high quality audio to a Montego II and it will faithfully reproduce 
   just what you give it. 

REMEMBER: The most basic rule of audio recording is… 
          "Garbage in, garbage out!"