It can be, but I would expect the mastering to be performed by the same individual for 44.1/24 and 44.1/16. To get 44.1/16 all one need do is truncate and dither the 44.1/24 file.
Hopefully in the other order 
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I hope I am rereading my response correctly. I think I have it correct - but my brain may be extra fuzzy today.
You need to dither before you truncate. My literal mindedness was just messing with the English language.
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even at high speed, mag tape doesnāt have the same dynamic range at the top end (though it is a lot better than slow speed), also, not many punk bands were recorded at 30 ips 
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Roger! Literal is often helpful. 
Here I was thinking I had the file formats reversed.
This recording actually was 30ips. It might have been worse at 15ips (or better depending what you are going for). But in general, increases in track width actually gives more headroom than tape speed, for example going from 24 track 2" to 16 track 2" (more common in the 70s) and the very rare, but massive 8 track 2".
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Professionals have been doing these comparisons for 20 years or more. Every mastering engineer compares a 24 bit master to the 16 bit outputted version on a daily basis, often to evaluate different dither processes (which do sound different). Iāve lost track of how many times Iāve compared 24 bit and 16 bit audio from the same source. Iām willing to say that most of the reports of increased sound quality on consumer systems are totally valid and donāt need any further qualification.
Now there is always the possibility that some might not prefer 24 bit as 16 bit tends to sound perceptually, louder, more compressed, and less complex. And some DACs handle 16 bit very well where tonality is important but resolution less so.
In the late '80s tho we didnāt usually hear the difference with the audio equipment we had in engineering, we had plenty of customers who could hear the difference on their systems. They let us know when we accidentally dithered 24 bits down.
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