MultitrackStudio Pro Plus not only supports 16 bit audio files, but 24, 32 and 32 bit floating point files as well.
What to use when? A comprehensive list:
Recording a track from a 16 bit soundcard: 16 bit file
The 16 bits coming from the soundcard can be stored in the 16 bit file nicely.
A 24 bit (or higher) file won't increase audio quality since there are only 16 bits available anyway, while disk usage for these files is higher.
Recording a track from a 24 bit soundcard: 24 bit file
The 24 bit signal coming from the soundcard can be stored in the 24 bit file nicely.
A 32 bit file (either fixed or floating point) won't increase audio quality since there are only 24 bits available, while disk usage for these files is 33% higher.
'Freezing' a softsynth track: 32 bit floating point file
You can freeze a softsynth track simply by saving it as an audio file.
32 bit floating point files don't clip at 0 dB full scale, like fixed point files do, so you don't have to worry about that.
Mix down to file, and burn this file to audio CDR: 16 bit file
Audio CDs are 16 bit, so a higher quality file will be converted to 16 bit by your CD-writer software anyway.
It's best to let MultitrackStudio do this conversion, then you can be sure it has been properly dithered etc.
Mix down to file, and apply further processing to this file: at least 24 bit
A properly dithered 16 bit file can have a dynamic range equaling about 19 bits (thanks to the dithering and noise-shaping).
However, these details are lost if you apply any processing to it.
If you process your 16 bit file the end result will have a dynamic range of slightly less than 16 bits because of rounding errors.
Mix down to file, and store it as 'master': at least 24 bit
Processing 16 bit files has a negative effect on sound quality (see previous paragraph).
You'll be glad you kept high quality files when it's time for your 'best of' album
Giel Bremmers