It’s a simple question. How much audio record time do I have on memory cards? We break it down using the Sound Devices audio calculator. Note that all times are estimates and will vary depending on the storage device’s system data.
You can also find storage capacity for photos below.
Audio Storage
WAV Format – 1 track, 48K Sample Rate at 16 Bit Depth
1G: 3hrs 7 mins
2GB: 6hrs 13 mins
4GB: 12hrs 26 mins
8GB: 24hrs 52 mins
16GB: 49hrs 44 mins
32GB: 99hrs 29 mins
64GB: 198hrs 57 mins
132GB: 410hrs 21 mins
264GB: 820hrs 42 mins
WAV Format – 1 track, 192K Sample Rate at 16 Bit Depth
1GB: 47mins
2GB: 1hrs 33mins
4GB: 3hrs 6mins
8GB: 6hrs 13mins
16GB: 12hrs 26mins
32GB: 24hrs 51mins
64GB: 49hrs 43mins
132GB: 102hrs 32mins
264GB: 205hrs 5mins
MP3 Format – 2 tracks, 96K Sample Rate at 16 Bit Depth
1GB: 24hrs 16mins
2GB: 48hrs 33mins
4GB: 97hrs 5mins
8GB: 194hrs 11mins
16GB: 388hrs 22mins
32GB: 776hrs 43mins
64GB: 1,165hrs 5mins
132GB: 3,203hrs 59mins
264GB: 6,407hrs 58mins
MP3 Format – 2 tracks, 128K Sample Rate at 16 Bit Depth
1GB: 18hrs 12mins
2GB: 36hrs 25mins
4GB: 72hrs 49mins
8GB: 145hrs 38mins
16GB: 291hrs 16mins
32GB: 582hrs 33mins
64GB: 1,165hrs 5mins
132GB: 2,402hrs 59mins
264GB: 4,805hrs 58mins
MP3 Format – 2 track, 320K Sample Rate at 16 Bit Depth
1GB: 7hrs 17mins
2GB: 14hrs 34mins
4GB: 29hrs 8mins
8GB: 58hrs 15mins
16GB: 116hrs 31mins
32GB: 233hrs 1mins
64GB: 66hrs 2mins
132GB: 961hrs 512mins
264GB: 1,922hrs 23mins
If you need to know times for additional tracks or the amount of space needed for a certain amount of record time, use the calculator here.
Photo Storage
San Disk has provided some calculations below.
The following assumptions were made to calculate the number of images per card:
MP = 1,000,000 pixels
1MB = 1,000,000 bytes, 1GB = 1,000MB
TIFF image has 24 bit color depth, one of 16,777,216 colors per pixel
JPEG 100% Quality = Visually lossless JPEG compression with 1:10 ratio of RAW image
Photos – Compressed (JPEG 100% quality) Images per card.
| Megapixels | File size (MB) | 1GB | 2GB | 4GB | 8GB | 16GB | 32GB | 64GB | 128GB |
| 4MP | 1.2 | 715 | 1430 | 2861 | 5722 | 11444 | 22888 | 45776 | 91552 |
| 5MP | 1.5 | 572 | 1144 | 2288 | 4577 | 9155 | 18310 | 36620 | 73240 |
| 6MP | 1.8 | 476 | 953 | 1907 | 3814 | 7629 | 15258 | 30516 | 61032 |
| 7MP | 2.1 | 408 | 817 | 1634 | 3269 | 6539 | 13078 | 26156 | 52312 |
| 8MP | 2.4 | 357 | 715 | 1430 | 2861 | 5722 | 11444 | 22888 | 45776 |
| 10MP | 3.0 | 286 | 572 | 1144 | 2288 | 4577 | 9155 | 18310 | 36620 |
| 12MP | 3.6 | 238 | 476 | 953 | 1907 | 3814 | 7629 | 15258 | 30516 |
| 14MP | 4.2 | 204 | 408 | 817 | 1634 | 3269 | 6539 | 13078 | 26156 |
| 16MP | 4.8 | 178 | 357 | 715 | 1430 | 2861 | 5722 | 11444 | 22888 |
| 22MP | 6.6 | 130 | 260 | 520 | 1040 | 2080 | 4161 | 8322 | 16644 |
Photos – Uncompressed RAW (24 bits per pixel) Images per card
| Megapixels | File size (MB) | 1GB | 2GB | 4GB | 8GB | 16GB | 32GB | 64GB | 128GB |
| 4MP | 1.2 | 715 | 1430 | 2861 | 5722 | 11444 | 22888 | 45776 | 91552 |
| 5MP | 1.5 | 572 | 1144 | 2288 | 4577 | 9155 | 18310 | 36620 | 73240 |
| 6MP | 1.8 | 476 | 953 | 1907 | 3814 | 7629 | 15258 | 30516 | 61032 |
| 7MP | 2.1 | 408 | 817 | 1634 | 3269 | 6539 | 13078 | 26156 | 52312 |
| 8MP | 2.4 | 357 | 715 | 1430 | 2861 | 5722 | 11444 | 22888 | 45776 |
| 10MP | 3.0 | 286 | 572 | 1144 | 2288 | 4577 | 9155 | 18310 | 36620 |
| 12MP | 3.6 | 238 | 476 | 953 | 1907 | 3814 | 7629 | 15258 | 30516 |
| 14MP | 4.2 | 204 | 408 | 817 | 1634 | 3269 | 6539 | 13078 | 26156 |
| 16MP | 4.8 | 178 | 357 | 715 | 1430 | 2861 | 5722 | 11444 | 22888 |
| 22MP | 6.6 | 130 | 260 | 520 | 1040 | 2080 | 4161 | 8322 | 16644 |
5 Comments
This is a really super in-depth review. I needed to know about video. Do you have links anywhere?
Good stuff, thank you.
I think the audio numbers are off though. According to the Sound Devices calculator (which has moved to https://www.sounddevices.com/tech-notes/audio-recording-calculator btw) “1 track, 48K Sample Rate at 16 Bit Depth” is 2:01:21 per gig. “1 track, 192K” listing is different from the calculator results as well.
Also, would ‘per mono track’ be a better descriptor than “1 track”? Particular wrt WAV format.
No need to publish this comment. Hopefully doesn’t read as internet whinging! It’s a helpful post and just trying to be help back. :)
Thank You this is what I was looking for.
Thanks! You answered all my questions for audio capacity of SD cards.
How many hours of digital voice recording on 2 gb sd card?