This disclosure describes companded transmit path techniques that may be implemented in a wireless communication device to reduce power consumption and possibly simplify signal modulation. In accordance with this disclosure, in phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) components of a transmit waveform are compressed at baseband, and an emphasis envelope is generated to represent this compression. The compressed I and Q components are then converted to analog signals and processed. This analog processing may include the mixing process in which the compressed I and Q signals are modulated onto a carrier waveform. The emphasis envelope signal is then used to expand the modulated waveform.