In some embodiments, a data processing system including an operation unit including circuitry configurable to perform any selected one of a number of operations on data (e.g., audio data) and a configuration unit configured to assert configuration information to configure the operation unit to perform the selected operation. When the operation includes matrix multiplication of a data vector and a matrix whose coefficients exhibit symmetry, the configuration information preferably includes bits that determine signs of all but magnitudes of only a subset of the coefficients. When the operation includes successive addition and subtraction operations on operand pairs, the configuration information preferably includes bits that configure the operation unit to operate in an alternating addition/subtraction mode to perform successive addition and subtraction operations on each pair of data values of a sequence of data value pairs.