A method for modifying a window with a frame associated with an audio signal is described. A signal is received. The signal is partitioned into a plurality of frames. A determination is made if a frame within the plurality of frames is associated with a non-speech signal. A modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) window function is applied to the frame to generate a first zero pad region, where the region has a length of (M−L)/2, where L is an arbitrary value, and a second zero pad region if it was determined that the frame is associated with a non-speech signal. The frame is encoded. The decoder window is the same as the encoder window.