The present technology minimizes undesirable effects of multi-level noise suppression processing by applying an adaptive equalization. A noise suppression system may apply different levels of noise suppression based on the (user-perceived) signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR). The resulting high-frequency data attenuation may be counteracted by adapting the signal equalization. The present technology may be applied in both transmit and receive paths of communication devices. Intelligibility may particularly be improved under varying noise conditions, e.g. when a cell phone user is moving in and out of noisy environments.