depth is a fundamental property of digital audio implementations. Depending on application requirements and equipment capabilities, different bit depths are used for different applications. Bit rate and file size Bit depth affects bit rate and file size. Bits are the basic unit of data used in computing and digital communications. Bit rate refers to the amount of data, specifically bits, transmitted or received per second. In MP3 and other lossy compressed audio formats, bit rate describes the amount of information used to encode an audio signal. It is usually measured in kb/s. See also Audio system measurements Color depth, corresponding concept for digital images Effective number of bits Notes References Digital audio