A method and apparatus for decoding a partial response encoded signal to generate a decoded signal. The first stage of the apparatus, a first delay filter, receives the partial response encoded signal and filters it with a delay characteristic of (1-D.sup.2)(1+D). The second stage, a timing system, generates a digital signal representative of the first filtered signal. The timing system includes an equalizer with an EPR4 equalization characteristic. The third stage, a second delay filter, filters the signal with a delay characteristic of 1-D. The final stage, a partial Viterbi decoder, generates the decoded signal.