1. A system for encoding speech onset in a signal, comprising: using a computing device for continuously analyzing and encoding sequential frames of at least one digital audio signal while analysis of the sequential frames indicates that the sequential frames is of a frame type including any of a speech type signal frame and a non-speech type signal frame without buffering any of the speech type signal frames and non-speech type signal frames prior to encoding; continuously analyzing and buffering sequential frames of the at least one digital audio signal to a variable length frame buffer while analysis of each sequential frame is unable to determine whether each sequential frame is of a frame type including any of the speech type signal frame and the non-speech type signal frame, such that only frames having an undeterminable type are buffered; automatically designating at least one of the buffered sequential frames as having the same type as a current sequential frame when analysis of the current sequential frame indicates that it is of a frame type including any of the speech type signal frame and the non-speech type signal frame; encoding the buffered sequential frames; and wherein encoding any of the sequential frames and the buffered sequential frames comprises encoding those frames using a frame type-specific encoder having a frame size corresponding to the type of each frame.