Why does signed 24 bit PCM not import correctly as raw data?

all other PCM and float encoders can be imported as raw data with the correct settings. however if you try to import anything in signed 24 bit PCM the audio just becomes noise in a similar way to what happens if you import it with the wrong byte ordering. i tried to do this with aiff instead of wav once and it did work, but now it no longer does. did audacity change something about how it imports raw data? can this be fixed or is it something innate to 24 bit PCM audio?