Abstract: A system for a high performance audio codec provides higher voice quality and higher recognition accuracy from an ASR engine at an increased data rate and computational power and embodiments include those having a CELP-based codec, an ASR engine, a text comparator, an encoder, a decoder, an LPC Computation and formant analysis module, a dual stage data rate determination module, a VQ of LSP coefficients module, a pitch synthesis and optimal pitch parameter search module, and an excitation codebook parameter search module. A method for high performance audio codec includes three stages and comprises the steps of having an ASR engine yield transcribed text from each of an uncompressed reference signal and a decompressed signal that has passed through an encoder and wherein the transcribed text is compared with original text to determine word error rates in an iterative process whereby both voice quality and recognition accuracy are optimized.