To my ears, there is no difference between 44.1 and 48k sample rates. (44.1 was only developed to prevent consumers from making exact digital copies of the broadcast standard 48K audio on the DAT machines we were obviously all going to buy.). However, I hear a noticeable, if not to say huge, difference between 16 but and 24 bit depth. If I was worried about disk space, I'd record at 24-bit 44.1k... If not, at the highest rate and depth my system would allow.
This doesn't mean that sample rate doesn't matter. There is an enormous difference between 48 and 96K... theres ust not enough extra data between 44.1 and 48 to really hear.