[theaudiologist]

I keep hearing on the internet that a sampling rate of 192kHz is worse than 96 and 44/48 kHz because it creates ultra-sonics causing IMD? Is it true? If so, can it be fixed by downsampling?

 

[spruce music]

  I keep hearing on the internet that a sampling rate of 192kHz is worse than 96 and 44/48 kHz because it creates ultra-sonics causing IMD? Is it true? If so, can it be fixed by downsampling?

I think that is a myth that should be put to bed.
 
Could the higher sample rate cause IMD that would be gone with lower sample rates?  Yes it could.  But music having that kind of signal is likely much less than one song per thousand.  If some part of your signal chain has IMD at significant levels it could occur.  The idea it will occur and generally 192 khz is worse is not a reasonable idea. 192 khz btw doesn't create ultrasonics, but it does reproduce them and they could cause IMD during playback. 
 
The other idea espoused by Dan Lavry is the faster you sample, the smaller the window in time for the ADC to settle and obtain the correct sample.  So sampling done faster is inherently less accurate at a small level.  While perhaps more meaningful at one time I think with current gear the difference is beyond trivial. 
 
I think it was this forum at one time or perhaps another where someone put out a signal with a combined 30 khz and 33 khz tone.  The IMD result of that would lie at 3 khz right near our most sensitive range of hearing.  I believe dozens of people tried it with their gear and no one could hear even a hint of the 3 khz tone from IMD distortion.  I know I tried it with several headphones, and speaker based systems and none reproduced it at a level that could be heard.
 
Finally if you were to find you had the rare system where it causes a problem, yes down-sampling would remedy the issue for you.

 

[spruce music]

https://xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
 
Here is where most people have seen this explanation.  About a quarter of the way down the page are some test files you can download and play over your system.  This lets you test your gear to see if it has a problem.  Do be careful some of these have very high level tones you may never hear.  If you turn it up trying you could burn up a tweeter without hearing a sound as it happens.

 

[watchnerd]

  I keep hearing on the internet that a sampling rate of 192kHz is worse than 96 and 44/48 kHz because it creates ultra-sonics causing IMD? Is it true? If so, can it be fixed by downsampling?

 
Yes, you can fix it with downsampling and noiseshaped dithering.