Technical
Audio File Size Calculator
How big will that stem export be? Enter your format and length to get the uncompressed file size, useful for planning storage, uploads, and stem deliveries.
How the size adds up
bytes = sample rate × (bit depth ÷ 8) × channels × seconds
Every second, the file stores one sample per channel per sample-rate tick, each sample taking bit-depth ÷ 8 bytes. A 4-minute stereo track at 48 kHz / 24-bit is 48,000 × 3 × 2 × 240 = about 69 million bytes, or ~66 MB. Doubling the sample rate, bit depth, or channel count doubles the size; the relationship is linear across every setting.
Why stems get huge, and what to actually use
This is uncompressed WAV/AIFF math, the format you work and deliver stems in. It's why a folder of 30 stems for one track can balloon past a gigabyte, and why sending them means a file-transfer service rather than email. MP3 and other lossy formats are roughly a tenth of this or smaller, but you only compress at the very end, for distribution, never for working files.
For most music, 24-bit at 44.1 or 48 kHz is the sweet spot: 24-bit gives you all the dynamic-range headroom you'll ever need while tracking, and higher sample rates mostly just inflate file size without an audible payoff unless you're doing heavy pitch/time manipulation. 32-bit float is worth it for recording when you're unsure of levels, since it's practically impossible to clip.