No, Charles; often they aren't the same. The study specifically points out that many SACDs and DVD-As are superior to CDs in sound quality. The point is that when there's a superiority it's due to better recording , mixing, mastering, not more bits or a higher sampling rate. The only way to clearly demonstrate this is with the superior SACDs/DVD-As played "full-strength" and then with the 16bit/44.1KHz CD limit applied. Playing a CD as such in comparison would be meaningless, as even a CD of the same performance often undergoes different production values.
