The actual speed is highly debated, but 16fps is absolutely wrong for Metropolis. 1927 was very late in the era of silent films and by then the standard projection rate was pretty close to sound speed 24fps even if the camera speed was not (which by 1927 was around 20-22fps, give or take). The music was composed for ~25fps and the animation sequences were commisioned for the higher rate. It was common convention at the time for films to be projected slightly sped up; in fact, there's reports of complaints that the early sound films were "leaden footed" because filmgoers weren't used to natural speed. Now, I believe that 26fps is absurdly fast regardless of the fact the premiere was that speed. It was probably the studio that insisted on that.

I'm working with the American laserdisc. I actually still haven't ripped the digital, but I have the equipment. I want to see if I can use PCM for the sound rather than compressing it. If I did go to DD, it will be as high bitrate as I can.