Audio File Size Calculator

Estimate the size of uncompressed audio (WAV/AIFF/PCM) from its sample rate, bit depth, channels and length — and the resulting data rate. Handy for planning storage, recording sessions and streaming budgets.

Compressed formats (MP3, AAC, Opus) are far smaller — this is the raw, lossless size. See the plugin formats and other reference tables.

How it works

Uncompressed audio has a completely predictable size — it is just samples times bytes.

bytes = sample rate × (bit depth / 8) × channels × seconds

MB (binary) = bytes / 1048576

Compressed formats break this: MP3, AAC and Opus are governed by their bitrate, where size = bitrate × duration / 8.

Worked example

• One minute, 44.1 kHz, 24-bit, stereo = 44100 × 3 × 2 × 60 = 15,876,000 bytes ≈ 15.1 MiB
• The same minute at 16-bit = 10.1 MiB
• At 96 kHz / 32-bit float / stereo = 43.9 MiB per minute
• A three-minute MP3 at 320 kbps ≈ 7.2 MB

In practice

• Multitrack sessions multiply fast. Twenty-four tracks of 24-bit/48 kHz for an hour is well over 20 GB before any takes or comps.
• 32-bit float doubles size against 16-bit but makes clipping recoverable in the box. Increasingly the default, and worth the disk.
• Sample rate above 48 kHz costs linearly in size and CPU for benefits most listeners cannot hear on the final master. Useful for heavy pitch-shifting and time-stretching.
• Budget for backups. Whatever number you calculate, plan for three copies of it.

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