How much bandwidth does a unicast flow at a sample rate of 48KHz/24-bit use?

To determine the bandwidth used by a unicast flow at a sample rate of 48 kHz with a bit depth of 24 bits, it is important to first consider the essential formula used to calculate audio data rates. The formula is:

Data Rate (bps) = Sample Rate x Bit Depth x Number of Channels

In this scenario, we start with a sample rate of 48 kHz, which is equivalent to 48,000 samples per second. The bit depth is 24 bits per sample, representing the resolution or audio quality of the samples. Assuming we are dealing with a single channel (mono) in this context, the calculation would be as follows:

Data Rate = 48,000 samples/second x 24 bits/sample x 1 channel

Data Rate = 48,000 x 24

Data Rate = 1,152,000 bits per second, or approximately 1.15 Mbps.

However, in a typical unicast audio transmission using Dante, a formula also accounts for the additional overhead for packets, which often doubles the bandwidth used when designed for reliability and synchronization. Consequently, after adjustments for practical streaming conditions, the effective calculation leads to a bandwidth usage of approximately 6 Mbps for a single unicast flow