how many possible values would an 8-bit audio sample have?

June 27, 2026 • 1 min read

An 8-bit audio sample can represent 256 possible distinct values.

Each bit can be 0 or 1, so with 8 bits you get 282^828 combinations, which equals 256.

In many common audio formats, those 8-bit samples are stored as unsigned values from 0 to 255.

So when you see “8-bit audio,” think of it as audio where each sample can be one of 256 discrete levels of loudness at that instant.

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