Audio Bitrate Calculator
Why "CD Quality" Means a Specific Number: 1,411 kbps
Uncompressed digital audio has a bitrate that's fully determined by three settings: how often it's sampled, how many bits describe each sample, and how many channels are recorded. Standard CD audio — 44,100 samples per second, 16 bits per sample, 2 channels — isn't an arbitrary "quality" label, it's a fixed bitrate of exactly 1,411.2 kbps. This calculator computes that bitrate from any combination of sample rate, bit depth, and channels, and converts between bitrate and file size in either direction.
The Formula
Three related calculations are available:
File Size (MB) = (Bitrate (kbps) × Duration (s)) / 8 / 1024
Bitrate (kbps) = (File Size (MB) × 1024 × 8) / Duration (s)
The uncompressed formula applies to raw PCM audio (WAV, AIFF); compressed formats like MP3 or AAC use a separate, typically much lower, target bitrate that isn't derived directly from sample rate and bit depth.
Where This Calculation Matters
- Recording session planning — estimating how much storage a multi-track recording session at a given sample rate and bit depth will consume.
- Format comparison — understanding exactly how much larger uncompressed audio is than a compressed MP3 or AAC file at typical listening bitrates.
- Archival decisions — weighing higher sample rates and bit depths (24-bit, 96kHz) against the storage cost they carry for long-term archives.
- Streaming and podcast delivery — working out the file size a given bitrate and episode length will produce, before uploading.
Uncompressed Bitrate by Format
| Format | Sample Rate | Bit Depth | Channels | Bitrate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phone/VoIP quality | 8,000 Hz | 16-bit | 1 (mono) | 128.0 kbps |
| CD quality | 44,100 Hz | 16-bit | 2 (stereo) | 1,411.2 kbps |
| Hi-res audio | 96,000 Hz | 24-bit | 2 (stereo) | 4,608.0 kbps |
| Studio/DVD-Audio | 192,000 Hz | 24-bit | 2 (stereo) | 9,216.0 kbps |
CD-quality uncompressed audio (1,411.2 kbps) is roughly 10 times the bitrate of a typical 128–160 kbps MP3, which is why lossless files are so much larger than compressed ones.
How to Use This Calculator
- Choose a mode: Uncompressed Bitrate, File Size from Bitrate, or Bitrate from File Size.
- For uncompressed bitrate, enter Sample Rate (Hz), Bit Depth (bits), and Channels.
- For the other modes, enter Bitrate (kbps) or File Size (MB) along with Duration (seconds).
- Select Calculate to get the result.
Related Calculations
Working out video rather than audio bitrate? Use the Video Bitrate Calculator. Need a general file size estimate instead? See the File Size Calculator.