In some aspects, a method performed in an audio processing apparatus for decoding an audio signal encoded with variable time-frequency resolution is disclosed. The method includes receiving the encoded audio signal, extracting from the encoded audio signal a frame of spectral coefficients, dividing the frame of spectral coefficients into a plurality of frequency bands, and extracting from the encoded audio signal a time-frequency resolution parameter for each of the plurality of frequency bands. The time-frequency resolution parameter indicates a resolution for a current band. The method further includes decoding the plurality of spectral coefficients with a variable time-frequency resolution based at least in part on the time-frequency resolution parameters.
