Audio processing system

1. An audio processing apparatus configured to accept an audio bitstream, the audio processing apparatus comprising:

an audio decoder adapted to receive the bitstream and to output quantized spectral coefficients;

a first processor that includes:

a dequantizer adapted to receive the quantized spectral coefficients and to output a first frequency-domain representation of an intermediate signal; and

an inverse transformer for receiving the first frequency-domain representation of the intermediate signal and synthesizing, based thereon, a time-domain representation of the intermediate signal;

a second processor that includes:

an analysis filterbank for receiving the time-domain representation of the intermediate signal and outputting a second frequency-domain representation of the intermediate signal;

an adjuster for receiving said second frequency-domain representation of the intermediate signal and outputting a frequency-domain representation of a processed audio signal; and

a synthesis filterbank for receiving the frequency-domain representation of the processed audio signal and outputting a time-domain representation of the processed audio signal; and

a sample rate converter for receiving said time-domain representation of the processed audio signal and outputting a reconstructed audio signal sampled at a target sampling frequency,

wherein the respective internal sampling rates of the time-domain representation of the intermediate audio signal and of the time-domain representation of the processed audio signal are equal, and wherein said at least one processing component includes:

a parametric upmixer for receiving a downmix signal with M channels and outputting, based thereon, a signal with N channels, wherein the parametric upmixer is operable at least in a mode where 1≦M<N, associated with a delay, and a mode where 1≦M=N; and

a first delay configured to incur a delay, when the parametric upmixer is in the mode where 1≦M=N, to compensate for the delay associated with the mode where 1≦M<N in order for the adjuster to have a constant total delay independently of a current operating mode of the parametric upmixer.

2. The audio processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first processor is operable in an audio mode and a voice-specific mode, and wherein a mode change from the audio mode into the voice-specific mode of the first processor includes reducing a maximal frame length of the inverse transformer.

3. The audio processing apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the sample rate converter is operable to provide a reconstructed audio signal sampled at the target sampling frequency differing by up to 5% from the internal sampling rate of said time-domain representation of the processed audio signal.

4. The audio processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a bypass line arranged parallel to the adjuster and comprising a second delay configured to incur a delay equal to the constant total delay of the adjuster.

5. The audio processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the parametric upmixer is further operable at least in a mode where M=3 and N=5.

6. The audio processing apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the first processor is configured, in that mode of the parametric upmixer where M=3 and N=5, to provide an intermediate signal comprising a downmix signal where the first processor derives two channels out of the M=3 channels from jointly coded channels in the audio bitstream.

7. The audio processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said adjuster further includes a spectral band replication module arranged upstream of the parametric upmixer and operable to reconstruct high-frequency content, wherein the spectral band replication module

is configured to be active at least in those modes of the parametric upmixer where M<N; and

is operable independently of the current mode of the parametric upmixer when the parametric upmixer is in any of the modes where M=N.

8. The audio processing apparatus of claim 7 , wherein said adjuster further includes a waveform coder arranged parallel to or downstream of the parametric upmixer and operable to augment each of the N channels with waveform-coded low-frequency content, wherein the waveform coder is activatable and deactivatable independently of the current mode of the parametric upmixer and the spectral band replication module.

9. The audio processing apparatus of claim 8 , operable at least in a decoding mode where the parametric upmixer is in a M=N mode with M>2.

10. The audio processing apparatus of claim 9 , operable at least in the following decoding modes:

i) parametric upmixer in M=N=1 mode;

ii) parametric upmixer in M=N=1 mode and spectral band replication module active;

iii) parametric upmixer in M=1, N=2 mode and spectral band replication module active;

iv) parametric upmixer in M=1, N=2 mode, spectral band replication module active and waveform coderactive;

v) parametric upmixer in M=2, N=5 mode and spectral band replication module active;

vi) parametric upmixer in M=2, N=5 mode, spectral band replication module active and waveform coderactive;

vii) parametric upmixer in M=3, N=5 mode and spectral band replication module active;

viii) parametric upmixer in M=N=2 mode;

ix) parametric upmixer in M=N=2 mode and spectral band replication module active;

x) parametric upmixer in M=N=7 mode;

xi) parametric upmixer in M=N=7 mode and spectral band replication module active.

11. The audio processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising the following components arranged downstream of the adjuster:

a phase shifter configured to receive the time-domain representation of the processed audio signal, in which at least one channel represents a surround channel, and to perform a 90-degree phase shift on said at least one surround channel; and

a downmixer configured to receive the processed audio signal from the phase shifter and to output, based thereon, a downmix signal with two channels.

12. The audio processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a low frequency effects (LFE) decoder configured to prepare at least one additional channel based on the audio bitstream and include said additional channel(s) in the reconstructed audio signal.