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Audio File Size Calculator

Estimate the size of an uncompressed audio recording.

How it is calculated

Uncompressed audio stores every sample in full, so the size is a product: bytes = rate × (depth / 8) × channels × (minutes × 60). Here rate is the sample rate in Hz (samples per second per channel), depth is bits per sample, channels is 1 for mono and 2 for stereo, and minutes is the length. Dividing depth by 8 turns bits into bytes.

The byte total is shown two ways: in MB (divided by 1,000,000) and in MiB (divided by 1,048,576), which is the figure most operating systems report. The bit rate is rate × depth × channels / 1000 in kbps. All four inputs must be above zero. The result is the raw audio data only; file headers, metadata and any compression such as MP3 or FLAC are not included.

Worked example

A 3-minute stereo recording at 44,100 Hz and 16 bits. Length is 3 × 60 = 180 seconds. Each second holds 44,100 samples × 2 bytes × 2 channels = 176,400 bytes. Over 180 seconds that is 31,752,000 bytes, so the tool shows 31.75 MB (31,752,000 / 1,000,000), or 30.28 MiB when divided by 1,048,576. The bit rate is 44,100 × 16 × 2 / 1000 = 1,411.2, shown as 1,411 kbps.

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Common mistakes

  • Entering the sample rate in kHz (44.1 or 48). The field is in Hz, so 48 means 48 samples per second and the size comes out around a thousand times too small.
  • Comparing MB with the MiB or size your computer shows. The same file is about 5% larger in MB than in MiB, so check which unit you are reading.
  • Forgetting the channel count. A stereo file is twice the size of mono at the same settings, and a surround recording is larger still.
  • Entering the time in seconds. The duration field is minutes, so 90 seconds is 1.5.
  • Expecting MP3, AAC or FLAC sizes. This is uncompressed PCM only; compressed formats are far smaller and depend on their own bit rate.

About this calculator

This calculator estimates the size of an uncompressed PCM/WAV audio file using size = sample rate × bit depth × channels × duration / 8 bytes — the same math a digital audio workstation uses internally, since PCM stores every sample without compression.

Audio engineers, podcasters, and app developers use it to plan storage and bandwidth before recording — for example, checking whether a two-hour stereo 96kHz/24-bit session will fit on a memory card.

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Comments (1)

  • Editorial team

    Watch the 4 GB ceiling of classic WAV files. A two-hour stereo session at 96000 Hz and 24 bits comes out at 4,147.20 MB, or 3,955.08 MiB, which is just under the 4 GiB limit of the standard WAV header. Add a few more minutes and a single file would overflow, which is why many recorders split long takes or use RF64. This tool does not model those formats. What length and settings are you planning to record?

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