Coupla Q's re: digital recording

[MixedSignals]

Why record to 48 and 96k? Does this make mixing "easier" (ie it's closer to the orig. source)? If it all ends up in 44k anyway?

Does anyone record straight to CDr? I use a Sony RCDW500C stand-alone. It has a Serial Bit Mapping function that i haven't used until recently, which is for analog sources. What does this mean?

I can understand if you're doing everything ITB and are subject to he pitfalls of pure digital, but if yer DIY down-home and outboard, throw in some analog EQ between mix and master and your ears are accustomed to 44k....?
Isn't it kinda deceptive to have everything sweet on a 96k mix and then hear it @ the final product stage @ 44? I do have an old analog reel that i can fall back on for some stuff that is just too harsh but for the style i produce, it doesn't translate well to 1/4" and the dynamics/ambience is lost..

I am pretty happy with the results I am getting so far. I used to record to DAT at 48k just because i could, but fundamentally, most of the beefyness i needed was adjusting to digital in the production stage and using analog in the chain. And DAT was pretty unreliable.

I am kinda in the middle between doing everything myself and going with an engineer in a real studio- that is, working on the stuff that i need to work on and should, not expecting someone else to make up for my lack of effort and getting that big-studio edge.

thanks