An audio signal, having first and second regions of frequency spectrum, is coded. Spectral peaks in the first region are encoded by a first coding method. For a segment of the audio signal, a relation between energy of bands in the first and second regions is determined. A relation between the energy of the band in the second region and energy of neighboring bands in the second region is determined. A determination is made whether available bits are sufficient for encoding at least one non-peak segment of the first region and the band in the second region. Responsive to first and second relations fulfilling a respective predetermined criterion and a sufficient number of bits, encoding the band in the second region using a second coding method different from the first coding method, and otherwise, subjecting the band in the second region to BandWidth Extension (BWE) or noise fill.