New LivePhish Release - 1999-12-16 Raleigh, NC

[Nedstruzz]

At what point in time did recording at 24/96 become commonplace?

Somewhere between 2000-2005.

[jasonsobel]

At what point in time did recording at 24/96 become commonplace?

Somewhere between 2000-2005.

Ned has it right, but to provide a little more detail here.  And my perspective is recording from the taper's section.  The band could probably record in 24 bit earlier and easier, because they can use studio gear and aren't reliant on portable gear.

1999-2000, recording in 24 bit becomes possible on a laptop.
Most of the portable gear was "limited" to 24/48.  Some people managed 24/96 on a laptop (see Marc Nutter's 2/18/03 recording, for example).
Laptop taping really picks up in 2003-2005 ish.
Relatively speaking, there are many 2003-2004 Phish shows that circulate in 24 bit.  I haven't found any pre-hiatus shows in 24 bit.  It's possible that they exist, but I haven't found them yet.

In 2003-2004 range, you also start to see some alternatives to laptop taping.  For example, Core Sounds CF-Audio allowed for a 24/96 recording using he CF slot in a PDA.  But you needed to have a PDA with another card slot to have enough storage space.  It's also a little finicky, because PDA's weren't the most powerful devices, and they weren't designed exclusively for audio recording.  But some people get this stuff to work.

2005 is when things really start picking up, because that's when easily powered, portable digital recorders become widely available.  At the high end, Sound Devices released their portable recorders in 2005 (I think).  This is the 702, 722, 744.  All great units, and still are to this day.  Also in 2005, M-Audio released the MicroTrack 2496.  It's very small, and very affordable ($300ish, IIRC).  But it's also finicky.  Despite having 2496 in it's name, at release it's limited to 16 bit recording.  But a firmware update brings 24 bit recording.  My first ever 24 bit recording was YMSB on October 19, 2005.  (side note, wicked awesome show with Sam Bush.  And an amazing recording.  One of my favorites to this day.  https://archive.org/details/ymsb2005-10-19.m200.flac24).

In 2006, many other companies got on board with portable digital recorders.  (Marantz, Tascam, Fostex, etc).  With competition, more and more recorders are released, the decks get better and better, and it's easier then ever to record 24/96.