As you've noticed, this is a complex topic that defies any sort of "one size fits all" answer.

While it is easy and probably correct to conclude that the audiophile version MIGHT be beneficial for "commercial releases" there are LOTS of different kinds of "commercial releases"...from those mega-projects where 10s of thousands of dollars are spent PER TRACK to gigging bands that hope to sell a few thousand CDs tops.

Pro studio engineers often scratch their heads wondering why they spend so much time, effort and money...even on major releases when the vast majority of listeners are hearing the music on relatively crappy car stereos and/or generally low end home systems that have NO CHANCE of reproducing what's on the CD.

IMO, music produced with the standard BIAB files and MASTERED CORRECTLY would be just fine for relatively small scale commercial releases.

Trust me on this...if the data on the CD exceeds the reproduction capability of the user's listening device...they ain't gonna hear all that's on the CD....period.

Best,

Jim