Audio File Size Calculator - Bitrate and Storage Math
Use this audio file size calculator to convert bit depth, sample rate, duration, and channel count into uncompressed bitrate and storage in KB, MB, and GB.
Audio File Size Calculator
Results
What Is Audio File Size Calculator?
An audio file size calculator turns four recording parameters into the exact storage an uncompressed audio file will take on disk. Pick a bit depth, pick a sample rate, enter the recording length in minutes, and choose mono or surround channels. The result shows the bit rate in kbps and Mbps, the file size in megabytes and gigabytes, plus a per-second and per-minute breakdown so you can scan how heavy the format is before you press record.
- • Plan storage for a music or podcast recording: decide whether a one-hour interview at 24-bit 48 kHz stereo fits on a 4 GB card before you set up
- • Compare CD, studio, and broadcast presets: see the file size of 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo, 24-bit 48 kHz stereo, and 24-bit 96 kHz stereo side by side
- • Estimate how much an uncompressed voice memo uses: size up a long dictation at 8-bit 8 kHz mono to confirm it stays well under a typical phone-storage limit
- • Convert uncompressed storage into network cost: use the Mbps bit rate to feed the same number into an upload-time or bandwidth calculator
When you need to take the MB or GB result from this calculator and turn it into TB, KiB, or other storage units, the Data Storage Converter handles the same byte, kilobyte, megabyte, and gigabyte scale conversions.
How Audio File Size Calculator Works
The audio file size calculator multiplies four audio parameters together, converts the product from bits to bytes, and scales the byte total into KB, MB, and GB on the SI decimal scale so the labels match the rest of the audio software on your computer.
- bitDepth: bits captured per audio sample, where 16 is CD quality and 24 is studio standard
- sampleRate: audio samples captured per second, where 44.1 kHz is CD and 48 kHz is video
- channels: independent audio streams, where 1 is mono, 2 is stereo, and 6 or 8 is surround
- durationSeconds: recording length converted from the minutes input by multiplying by 60
The formula is exact for uncompressed PCM audio. The only inputs are the bit depth, the sample rate, the duration, and the channel count, so the result is not an estimate.
5-minute CD-quality stereo recording
bitDepth = 16, sampleRate = 44100, durationMinutes = 5, channels = 2
bitRate = 16 × 44100 × 2 = 1,411,200 bits/sec. totalBits = 1,411,200 × 300 = 423,360,000 bits. fileSizeBytes = 423,360,000 ÷ 8 = 52,920,000 bytes. fileSizeMB = 52,920,000 ÷ 1,000,000 = 52.92 MB.
about 52.92 MB at 1411.2 kbps for a 5-minute CD-quality recording
This is the size of the same track as a 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo WAV. A standard CD album of 74 minutes at this format is roughly 783 MB, which matches the well-known uncompressed CD size.
According to Omni Calculator: Audio File Size, the uncompressed file size equals bit depth times sample rate times duration in seconds times the number of channels, divided by 8 to convert bits into bytes on the SI decimal scale.
According to Wikipedia: Bit rate, the bit rate is the number of bits processed per unit of time, and multiplying it by the duration yields the total number of bits stored in the recording.
Once the bit rate in Mbps is known, the Upload Time Calculator uses the same throughput unit to estimate how long the uncompressed audio takes to upload at a chosen connection speed.
Key Concepts Explained
Four audio parameters decide the uncompressed file size. Naming them keeps the math from feeling abstract and turns each result row into a decision the user can act on.
Bit Depth (Dynamic Range)
the number of bits captured per audio sample. Higher bit depth records a wider range between the quietest and loudest moment, with 16-bit covering about 96 dB of dynamic range and 24-bit covering about 144 dB.
Sample Rate (Frequency Capture)
the number of audio samples captured per second. According to the Nyquist limit, a sample rate must be at least twice the highest frequency you want to record, which is why 44.1 kHz captures the full 20 kHz upper range of human hearing.
Bit Rate (Bits per Second)
the product of bit depth, sample rate, and channels, expressed in bits per second. Spotify streams between 96 and 160 kbps for everyday listening, MP3 tops out at 320 kbps, and CD-quality audio is 1411.2 kbps uncompressed.
Channels (Spatial Layout)
the number of independent audio streams. Mono is one waveform, stereo is two (left and right), Dolby Digital 5.1 uses six discrete channels, and Digital Surround 7.1 uses eight.
Because the bit rate in kbps is the same number an audio engineer uses and a network engineer uses, the Bandwidth Calculator lets you flip the same Mbps figure into the bandwidth headroom a streaming or live-broadcast link needs.
How to Use This Calculator
The form has four fields, and the order you fill them does not change the result. Five steps cover the typical case from picking a preset to reading the storage numbers.
- 1 Pick a bit depth that matches your recording format: use 16-bit for CD-quality music and most podcasts, 24-bit for studio and broadcast work, and 8-bit only for legacy voice applications.
- 2 Pick a sample rate that covers the highest frequency you want: use 44.1 kHz for music, 48 kHz for video and broadcast, and 96 kHz or 192 kHz for high-resolution audio.
- 3 Enter the recording duration in minutes: for a 2-hour 14-minute concert enter 134, and for a 47-second voice clip enter 0.78. The calculator converts minutes to seconds for the math.
- 4 Pick the channel layout of your recording: use 1 channel for a mono voice memo, 2 for stereo music, 6 for Dolby Digital 5.1, and 8 for Digital Surround 7.1.
- 5 Read the bit rate and the storage totals: the primary number is the file size in MB; the secondary row adds GB, bit rate in kbps and Mbps, plus the per-second and per-minute storage breakdowns.
A podcaster recording a 60-minute interview at 16-bit 44.1 kHz mono leaves the bit depth and sample rate at the CD defaults, picks channels = 1, and enters 60 minutes. The result is 317.52 MB at 705.6 kbps, which fits a typical 1 GB SD card with room to spare.
For long field recordings where the duration input runs into hours, the Time Lapse Calculator shares the same minutes-to-seconds arithmetic and helps convert runtime into shooting-rate scenarios.
Benefits of Using This Calculator
Knowing the math behind audio file size translates into a few specific planning benefits that map to real decisions about recording storage and bandwidth.
- • Pick the right SD card or SSD before recording: estimate whether a 1-hour 24-bit 48 kHz stereo recording fits a 4 GB card without filling it mid-session
- • Compare presets without re-entering numbers by hand: swap 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo for 24-bit 96 kHz stereo and read the storage jump in seconds, without redoing the multiplication
- • Translate storage into network cost or bandwidth: feed the Mbps bit rate into an upload-time or bandwidth calculator to plan cloud backups and live streams
- • Check whether compressed formats fit the use case: compare the uncompressed MB against a target MP3, AAC, or FLAC file size to decide if compression is acceptable
- • Plan capacity for archives and backups: size up a year of weekly podcast masters before committing to a cloud-storage plan
After you have the file size in MB or GB, the Download Time Calculator flips the same number into a download duration at the user's connection speed, which is the most common next question after picking a recording format.
Factors That Affect Your Results
Five factors change the audio file size result in practice. The math stays the same, but the practical impact varies by recording format and storage target.
Recording format (CD, studio, broadcast)
CD-quality 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo at 1411.2 kbps is the lowest realistic baseline for music. Studio 24-bit 48 kHz stereo at 2304 kbps is the broadcast standard. High-resolution 24-bit 192 kHz stereo at 9216 kbps multiplies the storage roughly 6.5 times the CD baseline.
Channel count (mono to surround)
Switching from stereo to Dolby Digital 5.1 (6 channels) triples the file size. Switching to 7.1 surround (8 channels) quadruples it. Each additional channel adds the same per-channel file size as the others.
Recording duration
A 60-minute interview at 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo is 635.04 MB; doubling the length to 120 minutes doubles the file size to 1270.08 MB, or just over 1.24 GB.
Storage medium limits
SD cards and SSDs are typically labelled in SI decimal units, so a 32 GB card holds about 32,000 MB of uncompressed audio, not 32,000 mebibytes.
Compression versus uncompressed PCM
A 320 kbps MP3 compresses the 1411.2 kbps CD-quality signal by roughly 4.4x. Lossless codecs such as FLAC compress by about 2x. A 5-minute CD track at 52.92 MB uncompressed becomes about 12 MB at MP3 320 kbps and 26 MB in FLAC.
- • The audio file size calculator returns the uncompressed PCM size only. Real-world audio files such as MP3, AAC, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and Opus shrink the result through lossy or lossless compression, so the on-disk file is almost always smaller than the calculator shows.
- • Container overhead and metadata are not modelled. Real WAV, AIFF, and BWF files include a small header and sometimes embedded markers or album art. The overhead is usually well under 1 percent of the file size.
According to Spotify: Audio quality and format help, the service streams between 96 and 160 kbps for everyday listening and up to 320 kbps for high quality, which is well below the 1411.2 kbps CD-quality bit rate that this calculator uses as the uncompressed baseline.
When the recording is part of a wireless or broadcast workflow and the sample rate needs to be checked against a transmission bandwidth in MHz, the RF Unit Converter converts between Hz, kHz, MHz, and GHz cleanly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do you calculate the size of an uncompressed audio file?
A: Multiply the bit depth by the sample rate to get the bit rate per channel, multiply by the channel count and by the duration in seconds, then divide by 8 to convert bits into bytes. A 5-minute CD-quality recording at 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo is 16 × 44,100 × 2 × 300 ÷ 8 = 52,920,000 bytes, or about 52.92 MB.
Q: How many MB is a 3 minute song at CD quality?
A: A 3-minute CD-quality song at 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo is about 31.75 MB uncompressed. The math is 16 × 44,100 × 2 × 180 ÷ 8 = 31,752,000 bytes, which matches the well-known rule of thumb that CD audio uses roughly 10 MB per minute.
Q: How many MB is one minute of 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo audio?
A: One minute of 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo audio is 10.58 MB uncompressed, because the bit rate is 1411.2 kbps and 1411.2 ÷ 8 × 60 seconds gives 10,584,000 bytes, or 10.58 MB. This is the canonical CD-quality per-minute figure used to size CD albums and high-quality voice archives.
Q: How big is a 1 hour recording at 24-bit 48 kHz stereo?
A: A 1-hour recording at 24-bit 48 kHz stereo is about 1.04 GB uncompressed, because the bit rate is 24 × 48,000 × 2 = 2,304,000 bits/sec, and 2,304,000 × 3600 ÷ 8 = 1,036,800,000 bytes, or about 1036.8 MB. This is the most common studio and broadcast preset.
Q: Does bit depth affect audio file size?
A: Yes. Bit depth multiplies the bit rate, so a 24-bit recording uses 1.5 times the storage of a 16-bit recording at the same sample rate and channel count, and a 32-bit float recording uses 2 times the storage of a 16-bit recording. Bit depth also increases dynamic range, which is why studio work prefers 24-bit even when the file gets larger.
Q: What is the difference between bit rate and file size?
A: Bit rate is the number of bits processed per second, measured in kbps or Mbps. File size is the bit rate multiplied by the duration in seconds, then divided by 8 to convert bits into bytes. A 1411.2 kbps CD-quality track over 5 minutes becomes 52.92 MB, so bit rate and file size describe the same signal in two different units.