Techniques for adaptive gain adjustment in a signal processing path to achieve greater dynamic range. In an exemplary embodiment, a digital gain is applied to a digital input signal based on a detected level of the digital input signal. A corresponding analog gain is applied to the output of a digital-to-analog converter for converting the digital input signal to an analog signal, the product of the digital gain and the analog gain being kept constant. In an exemplary embodiment, a zero cross detector is employed to update the digital and analog gains only in the vicinity of zero crossings detected in the signal. In a further exemplary embodiment, a peak detector is employed to instantaneously adjust the digital and analog gains to avoid clipping in the signal path.