They must be, and you can see it in Roon when you turn on the “core decoding”
(core decoding = 1st unfold)
The signal path for a 16bit 44.1kHz MQA (so made from a 16bit 44.1kHz PCM)
suddenly shows 24bit 88.2kHz after the 1st unfold (why? to restore unrecorded frequencies?)
Even Gandalf from LOTR cannot explain.