Audio Bitrate & File Size Calculator

Compute uncompressed PCM audio bitrate and file size per minute from sample rate, bit depth, and channel count.

Result

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How to use this calculator

Enter the sample rate in Hz (44100 for CD, 48000 for video/pro audio).
Select the bit depth and the number of channels.
Enter a duration in minutes to get the total file size.
Read the bitrate in kbps and the file size per minute and total.

About this calculator

Uncompressed digital audio (PCM, as stored in WAV and AIFF files) has a bitrate set entirely by three numbers: the sample rate, the bit depth, and the number of channels. Multiply them together and you get the bitrate in bits per second; divide by eight for bytes, and multiply by the duration for total file size. CD-quality audio — 44,100 samples per second, 16 bits per sample, 2 channels — works out to 1,411,200 bits per second, or about 10.1 MiB per minute. Higher sample rates and bit depths (used in professional and hi-res audio) raise the rate proportionally, as do extra channels for surround sound. These figures are for uncompressed audio; lossy formats like MP3 and AAC store far less, and lossless formats like FLAC shrink PCM by roughly half without losing data.

How it works — the formula

Bitrate (bit/s) = Sample rate × Bit depth × Channels
Bytes/s        = Bitrate ÷ 8
File size      = Bytes/s × Duration (s)

Uncompressed PCM stores every sample at full precision, so the data rate is just the product of how often, how precisely, and how many streams are recorded. File size is the data rate times the length.

Source: Wikipedia — Pulse-code modulation (PCM)

Worked examples

Example 1

CD: 44100 Hz, 16-bit, stereo

Inputs:: sampleRate=44100, bitDepth=16, channels=2
Output:: 1,411 kbps · 10.1 MiB/min

Example 2

Studio: 48000 Hz, 24-bit, stereo

Inputs:: sampleRate=48000, bitDepth=24, channels=2
Output:: 2,304 kbps · 16.5 MiB/min

Example 3

Hi-res 5.1: 96000 Hz, 24-bit, 6 ch

Inputs:: sampleRate=96000, bitDepth=24, channels=6
Output:: 13,824 kbps

Limitations

Covers uncompressed PCM only — not lossy or lossless codecs.
Ignores file container/header overhead (a few KB).
32-bit float is treated as 32 bits per sample.

PCM figures are exact; compressed-format sizes depend on the codec and settings.

Frequently asked

How do I calculate audio bitrate?+

Multiply the sample rate by the bit depth by the number of channels. For CD audio: 44,100 Hz × 16 bits × 2 channels = 1,411,200 bits per second (about 1,411 kbps). This is the uncompressed PCM bitrate.

How big is one minute of CD-quality audio?+

About 10.1 MiB. The data rate is 1,411,200 bits/s ÷ 8 = 176,400 bytes/s, and over 60 seconds that is 10,584,000 bytes ≈ 10.1 MiB (10.58 MB in decimal units).

What is the difference between sample rate and bit depth?+

Sample rate is how many times per second the audio is measured (Hz) — it sets the highest frequency that can be captured (up to half the sample rate). Bit depth is how many bits encode each sample — it sets the dynamic range and noise floor. Both raise the bitrate when increased.

Does this apply to MP3 or AAC files?+

No. MP3, AAC, and Opus are lossy compressed formats with their own target bitrate (e.g. 128, 256, 320 kbps) that is far below uncompressed PCM. This calculator gives the uncompressed PCM rate, which is the size of WAV/AIFF audio.

How much does FLAC or ALAC save?+

Lossless codecs like FLAC and ALAC compress PCM without discarding any data, typically achieving 40–60% of the original size depending on the music. They do not have a fixed bitrate; complex, loud passages compress less than quiet ones.

Why use 48 kHz instead of 44.1 kHz?+

48 kHz is the standard for video and professional audio, partly for clean synchronisation with video frame rates. 44.1 kHz is the CD standard. The difference in captured frequency range is small; 48 kHz raises the bitrate and file size by about 8.8%.