Audio Bitrate And Size Calculator

Work out audio bitrate and size instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Audio Bitrate And Size Calculator

Uncompressed PCM bitrate is sample rate times bit depth times channels, which gives 1,411 kbps for CD-quality stereo and 1,536 kbps at 48 kHz. Lossy codecs achieve perceptual transparency for most listeners at around a tenth of that, which is why a 60-minute recording drops from roughly 660 MB to under 60 MB.

Formula

PCM bitrate

bitrate = sample rate x bit depth x channels; bytes = bitrate x duration / 8

Worked example

With the default values below, Audio Bitrate And Size Calculator returns Uncompressed bitrate of 1,536. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Sample rateaccepts 8,000–192,000 Hz: 48,000 Hz
Bit depthaccepts 8–32 bits: 16 bits
Channelsaccepts 1–8: 2
Durationminimum 0.01 min: 60 min

Results

Uncompressed bitrate: 1,536 kbps
Uncompressed file size: 659.18 MiB
Bytes per second: 192,000 B/s
Size if encoded at 128 kbps: 54.93 MiB

Step by step

1Values used
2PCM bitrate
3Uncompressed bitrate= 1,536 kbps
4Uncompressed file size= 691,200,000
5Bytes per second= 192,000 B/s
6Size if encoded at 128 kbps= 57,600,000

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to whole numbers, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why 48 kHz rather than 44.1?

48 kHz is the video and broadcast standard and avoids resampling in production workflows. 44.1 kHz comes from CD and remains common in music distribution.

Is 24-bit depth worth it?

For recording and mixing yes, because it gives headroom against clipping and quantisation noise. For distribution, 16-bit exceeds the dynamic range of any playback environment.