Audio File Size Calculator

#Budget for the export you will actually send

Enter one file’s duration, sample rate, stored sample width and channel count. Then set the number of equal-length files. For twelve stereo stems of a three-minute song, enter 180 seconds, two channels and twelve files. If every file has a different duration or format, calculate separate batches and add their totals. The WAV storage guide walks through this workflow.

A stereo pair already counts as two channels. Do not enter twice the duration for stereo; that counts the same data twice. An interleaved stereo file and two mono files contain the same sample payload at matching duration and format, although their header overhead differs.

#How the bytes are calculated

Frames = round(duration × sample rate). Audio bytes = frames × channels × storage bits per sample / 8. The frame count is rounded once, because a file cannot contain a fraction of a sample frame. A frame contains one sample for each channel. Microsoft’s waveform format documentation defines the corresponding byte-rate and block-alignment relationships.

At 48,000 Hz, packed 24-bit stereo uses 288,000 bytes per second. Three minutes gives 51,840,000 bytes of audio, or 51.84 MB. Twelve matching files contain 622,080,000 bytes, about 593.262 MiB. MB here means 1,000,000 bytes; MiB means 1,048,576 bytes. Both describe the same data.

#Match storage width, not just valid bits

A packed 24-bit sample uses three bytes. Audio with 24 valid bits in a 32-bit container uses four. Choose 32 in the latter case. Likewise, 32-bit float uses four bytes per sample but is not equivalent to a 32-bit integer in numeric range or precision. Microsoft’s extensible format documentation distinguishes valid bits from the container width.

Use the sample-rate and bit-depth guide before choosing a session format. Increasing a storage setting does not restore detail lost earlier in the recording chain.

#Container and session limits

WAV and AIFF are containers, and not every WAV is uncompressed. This tool applies only when the sample data is uncompressed. Headers, cue markers, Broadcast Wave metadata and artwork add bytes. DAW project folders can also contain alternate takes, caches and undo media. This is a payload estimate, not a disk-space guarantee.

Classic RIFF/WAV has a size limit around 4 GiB. The warning begins slightly below that boundary because the available payload depends on header size. Long recordings may need a supported large-file format such as RF64 or W64, or a split export. Confirm compatibility with the recipient’s software instead of assuming any .wav extension is sufficient.

#Save a useful handover note

Download CSV or copy the result with its inputs. Name the intended channel layout separately; a channel count does not say which track contains which instrument. Keep original artist and recording credits with the files. These calculations neither upload audio nor change ownership or distribution links.