Abstract: An initialization procedure for a digital modem system treats the presence of ADPCM as if it were a digital impairment such that the modem system can utilize effective compensation techniques to address the ADPCM. The modem system initially determines whether the current communication channel is a fully digital channel. Next, the modem system determines whether the channel includes any ADPCM elements. If ADPCM is detected, then a digital impairment learning routine is performed to obtain the ADPCM compression characteristics and data rate. The digital impairment learning routine may use a single probing sequence to obtain the ADPCM characteristics while identifying any concurrent digital impairments such as RBS, digital pads, and encoding law conversions. Once the digital channel is characterized, the modem system may condition its transmitters and receivers in an appropriate manner to obtain an increased data rate.