Is 96000 Hz maybe a bit of overkill?

CDs are normally recorded at 44100 Hz. I remember reading sometime ago that that frequency was chosen because it was roughly twice the maximum frequency that most people with unimpaired hearing can detect. It seems that you need to digitise audio at twice the maximum frequency you want reproduced.

I have my Edirol R09 set to record at 44.1 kHz, 16 bit and I find that a good balance between quality and file size. The highest quality on my R09 is 48 kHz, 24 bit which will give a slightly higher maximum frequency on playback and a 24 bit word will capture more information than a 16 bit word, but the result would be substantially larger files.

I usually export my files from Audacity in flac format. This is a lossless compression system and though the files are larger than most mp3 files, they are smaller than wav files of equivalent quality and there is no loss of data, unlike with compression systems like mp3 and ogg which are described as lossy for good reason.

To send the files to others; rather than attach the actual files to an email, I upload either to Soundcloud or to my own website and then email the link. The recipient can then download using the link in the email. Soundcloud is a good choice in my view because their limit is based on playback time rather than file size and you can upload in almost any audio format (including wav).