YouTube Audio Quality Bitrate used for 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, and 1080p
Posted May 23, 2011 by Nick Vogt in Web and Internet
When a video is uploaded to YouTube, several versions of the video and audio data are saved at different quality levels. As you know, the video resolutions are 240p, 360p, 480p, 720p, and 1080p, and the video gets sharper and better as you go higher. What isn't immediately apparent is that YouTube also streams higher quality audio as you increase the video resolution.The bit rate and quality level of the audio that YouTube streams by default has changed and gotten better over the years. Here is a compilation of the current and past audio qualities that correspond to each video resolution:
Current Audio Quality
Videos uploaded during and after May 2011 should have these audio qualities, as long as the source uploaded video had audio that was encoded at a high enough bit rate or was uncompressed/lossless:
| Resolution | Audio Bit Rate | Compression |
|---|---|---|
| Original | 152 kbps | AAC |
| 1080p | 152 kbps | AAC |
| 720p | 152 kbps | AAC |
| 480p | 128 kbps | AAC |
| 360p | 128 kbps | AAC |
| 240p | 60 kbps | MP3 |
- Occasionally you'll find a 240p-only video that has a 90~ kbps audio bit rate, like this one. I haven't done testing with that size of a video and am not sure why.
- "Original" resolution is any video size that is larger than 1920x1080. For example, if you upload a 1920x1200 or 2560x1600 video, it should show the "Original" option.
Past Audio Quality
Videos uploaded prior to May 2011 should have these audio qualities, as long as the video was originally uploaded with 128 kbps or higher bit rate, or lossless audio:
| Resolution | Audio Bit Rate | Compression |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 128 kbps | AAC |
| 720p | 128 kbps | AAC |
| 480p | 128 kbps | AAC |
| 360p | 128 kbps | AAC |
| 240p | 60 kbps | MP3 |
Before March 2011, YouTube used these audio qualities for several years:
| Resolution | Audio Bit Rate | Compression |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 128 kbps | AAC |
| 720p | 128 kbps | AAC |
| 480p | 96 kbps | AAC |
| 360p | 96 kbps | AAC |
| 240p | 60 kbps | MP3 |
Most 360p and 480p videos from before March 2011 have since been updated to 128 kbps (if 128 kbps audio was available). I'm not sure how quickly YouTube is updating older videos, but one of my videos from late 2008 plays with 128 kbps audio at 360p now (used to be 96 kbps).
Final Thoughts
If audio quality is important, I highly recommend linking to and embedding the HD (720p) version of your videos if available, to take advantage of the 152 kbps audio. See my post on linking and embedding HD YouTube videos for details on how to do that.
I'm still waiting for YouTube to roll out 192 kbps audio. I thought that this may happen with the new HTML5 player, but I tested the new HTML5 player a few months back and it still used 152 kbps bit rate AAC audio on the highest resolutions. I'll keep an eye out for any changes.
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| Tags | youtube |
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Comment on this post
Legacy Comments (29)
DanDoe | October 22, 2011 | 8:38 PM PST
How do you check what the audio bitrate is of the youtube videos...This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time !
I've downloaded a bunch of videos, but no idea what the audio bitrate is...and no one is able to give an answer.
I've downloaded a bunch of videos, but no idea what the audio bitrate is...and no one is able to give an answer.
Nick | October 22, 2011 | 9:19 PM PST
There's a program called Pazera Free Audio Extractor. You can add files to it, then look at video properties (you don't need to export or anything). That's what I use anyway.
Anonymous | October 6, 2011 | 10:49 PM PST
192kbps is comiiiiin!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Quality_and_codecs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Quality_and_codecs
john | September 8, 2011 | 1:09 PM PST
good stuff, thanks
Spek | August 9, 2011 | 6:04 PM PST
Very useful, current information... and by someone who actually checks the audio bitrate and doesn't just c/p from another source.
bob | May 23, 2011 | 10:09 AM PST
so no vids have adio quality over 128
Nick | May 27, 2011 | 10:10 AM PST
To my knowledge that is correct.
HP | May 27, 2011 | 3:52 PM PST
As of a few days (weeks?) ago, newly uploaded youtube HD videos have 152 kbps quality.
See this for the full up to date table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Quality_and_codecs
See this for the full up to date table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Quality_and_codecs
Nick | May 27, 2011 | 7:15 PM PST
Thanks for the tip HP! I have just done some testing and have updated the post accordingly.
Martin | May 11, 2011 | 3:22 AM PST
On my surround speakers, theres a MAJOR difference between 360, and 720.. and even a big difference on 1080P. I don't listen to anything less than if I can.
Nick | May 27, 2011 | 7:16 PM PST
720p and 1080p should have the same audio quality as each other, even for older videos. Is there a video in particular that sounds different between 720p and 1080p?
Maxx | May 3, 2011 | 5:02 AM PST
thx
Matthew Johnson | April 11, 2011 | 12:11 PM PST
Thank you very much! It's frustrating that they removed the older way of doing it to set 480, but this works just fine.
MyNameiS | April 4, 2011 | 9:43 PM PST
Really ? And 2K & 4K Resolution ?
HP | April 2, 2011 | 3:48 PM PST
360p seems to have 96 kpbs AAC audio...
Nick | April 2, 2011 | 9:28 PM PST
On older videos it still will. It was only a week or so ago that I noticed all new uploads using 128kbps on 360p and up.
HP | April 3, 2011 | 11:16 AM PST
Nick - on all the recent uploads I have checked, the audio bitrate is still 96 kbps.
For example, try this vid (uploaded Mar 30) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Sd5c4o9UM
For example, try this vid (uploaded Mar 30) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Sd5c4o9UM
Nick | April 3, 2011 | 3:21 PM PST
I checked that video and it appears to be 128kbsp for 360p and up. I checked with different browsers and while not logged in. I also checked a few more uploaded in the last few days and it is the same as my chart above.
I also checked in the player, switching between 360p and 720p, and there was no discernible audio difference that I could tell (but a huge one going to 240p).
I've tried it from different IPs as well, but I will double-check again from work on a fresh browser tomorrow.
I also checked in the player, switching between 360p and 720p, and there was no discernible audio difference that I could tell (but a huge one going to 240p).
I've tried it from different IPs as well, but I will double-check again from work on a fresh browser tomorrow.
HP | April 3, 2011 | 4:54 PM PST
Nick I am assuming you are still using Pazera? I downloaded Pazera and noticed that the default output for Pazera is 128 kbps - this however does not represent the original audio quality. You have to change the Pazera audio format to "original quality" (I forget what exactly it is called). This should produce around 94 kbps audio.
I use the command line program ffmpeg to determine the audio quality (in fact, Pazera also uses ffmpeg - it is simply a wrapper). You can also use MediaInfo (http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en) to determine the quality.
I use the command line program ffmpeg to determine the audio quality (in fact, Pazera also uses ffmpeg - it is simply a wrapper). You can also use MediaInfo (http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en) to determine the quality.
Nick | April 3, 2011 | 6:01 PM PST
I didn't export, I just looked at the audio info. What service are you using to download videos from YouTube? If you listen to the video on YouTube, switch between 360p and 720p several times, does the audio quality sound different? I'll try it again on another PC tomorrow, just to double-check that it isn't IP related (though I have already checked from a computer on a different IP, and with different accounts, not being logged in, and in FF, IE, and Chrome). We'll get to the bottom of this.
HP | April 3, 2011 | 7:45 PM PST
Ok I figured it out - turns out we were both right :D
There are TWO 360p resolutions on youtube! One is mp4, the other is flv. The mp4 is 96 kbps, the flv is 128 kbps. You can check this out for more info: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Quality_and_codecs>
There are TWO 360p resolutions on youtube! One is mp4, the other is flv. The mp4 is 96 kbps, the flv is 128 kbps. You can check this out for more info: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube#Quality_and_codecs>
Nick | April 4, 2011 | 11:59 AM PST
I see that now. They're still saving a 96kbps version. It seems as though YouTube is playing the version with 128kbps audio by default now instead of the 96kbps audio. I just double-checked with a non-logged in browser and the 360p, 480p, and 720p playback all have the same audio quality. Is this the same as what you're finding?
HP | April 4, 2011 | 2:51 PM PST
Yes Nick that seems to be the case. I wish youtube would re-encode the audio on HD videos prior to March 2011 (would you happen to know the exact date?) so that the audio for 360p and 460p was also 128kbps. And it puzzles me why they upgrade the flv to 128kbps but not the mp4 (and why they use two containers for the same resolution in the first place).
jake | August 3, 2011 | 5:06 PM PST
Reencoding to a higher bitrate without access to the original source would be wasteful and deceptive.
Nick | August 3, 2011 | 8:07 PM PST
I think what he means is that YouTube should couple the 128kbps audio with the lower resolution videos (since they already have the 128kbps audio saved). It looks like they've done this with most of the videos I've run across.
Matt | March 12, 2011 | 8:43 PM PST
Thanks this really helped
Jason | March 7, 2011 | 1:42 PM PST
Great help thanks.
Alex | February 8, 2011 | 5:25 AM PST
Thanks, the '&hd=1' was really useful thing !
clark | February 3, 2011 | 11:07 AM PST
thanks finally someone posted the right stuff.