An encoder and decoder for processing an audio signal including generic audio and speech frames are provided herein. During operation, two encoders are utilized by the speech coder, and two decoders are utilized by the speech decoder. The two encoders and decoders are utilized to process speech and non-speech (generic audio) respectively. During a transition between generic audio and speech, parameters that are needed by the speech decoder for decoding frame of speech are generated by processing the preceding generic audio (non-speech) frame for the necessary parameters. Because necessary parameters are obtained by the speech coder/decoder, the discontinuities associated with prior-art techniques are reduced when transitioning between generic audio frames and speech frames.