⏱️

Audio Duration & File Size Calculator

Convert between duration, file size, and bitrate, and plan storage — for any compressed bitrate (MP3/AAC/Opus) or uncompressed PCM/WAV settings. It’s a calculator; no files are uploaded or processed.

ℹ Estimates assume a constant bitrate. Real MP3/AAC files are often VBR (variable), and tags/containers add a little overhead, so actual sizes vary by a few percent. Lossless (FLAC/ALAC) has no fixed bitrate — it depends on the audio. Sizes use decimal units (1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes); Windows shows binary (1024-based), so its “MB” look a bit smaller.

1 · Audio format

How long is a file of a given size?

Common formats — size per hour

Approximate sizes for one hour of stereo audio at typical settings (decimal MB/GB).

How the Math Works

Audio file size and duration are tied together by the bitrate — the number of bits used per second of audio. The core relationship is file size (bytes) = bitrate (bits/s) × duration (s) ÷ 8, and rearranged, duration = size × 8 ÷ bitrate. For compressed formats (MP3, AAC, Opus) the bitrate you choose already includes both channels, so a 128 kbps stereo file and a 128 kbps mono file are the same size. For uncompressed PCM/WAV, the bitrate is computed from the recording settings: sample rate × bit depth × channels — e.g. CD quality is 44,100 × 16 × 2 = 1,411,200 bits/s (1,411 kbps).

These are estimates because most compressed encoders use variable bitrate (VBR), spending more bits on complex passages, so the size is an average. Containers and metadata (ID3 tags, MP4 atoms, the 44-byte WAV header) add a small fixed overhead — negligible for long files, noticeable for very short ones. Lossless formats like FLAC compress by content (often 40–60% of WAV), so they don’t have a fixed bitrate to calculate from.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this upload or read my files?
No. It’s a pure calculator — it only does arithmetic on the numbers you type. Nothing is uploaded, opened, or processed.
Why is my real file a slightly different size?
VBR encoding makes the bitrate vary, and tags/containers add overhead. Treat the result as a close estimate, usually within a few percent for typical files.
MB or MiB?
This tool uses decimal units: 1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes, 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes — matching how bitrates are quoted. Windows reports binary units (1 MiB = 1,048,576 bytes) but labels them “MB,” so its figures look about 5–7% smaller.
Can I calculate FLAC or ALAC size?
Not precisely — lossless compression depends on the actual audio, so there’s no fixed bitrate. As a rough guide, FLAC is often 40–60% of the equivalent WAV size.
How do I find a file’s bitrate?
Most players and OS file-info dialogs show it, or divide the file size in bits by its duration in seconds. For WAV, use the PCM tab and enter the sample rate, bit depth, and channels.