Audio quantizer for quantizing a plurality of audio information items, comprising: a first stage vector quantizer (141, 143) for quantizing the plurality of audio information items to determine a first stage vector quantization result and a plurality of intermediate quantized items corresponding to the first stage vector quantization result; a residual item determiner for calculating a plurality of residual items from the plurality of intermediate quantized items and the plurality of audio information items; and a second stage vector quantizer for quantizing the plurality of residual items to obtain a second stage vector quantization result, wherein the first stage vector quantization result and the second stage vector quantization result are a quantized representation of the plurality of audio information items, wherein the audio information items comprise, for a first frame of a multichannel audio signal, a first plurality of scale parameters for a first channel of the multichannel audio signal, and a second plurality of scale parameters for a second channel of the multichannel audio signal, wherein the audio quantizer is configured to apply the first and the second stage vector quantizers to the first plurality and the second plurality of the first frame, wherein the audio information items comprise, for a second frame of the multichannel audio signal, a third plurality of mid scale parameters and a fourth plurality of side scale parameters, and wherein the audio quantizer is configured to apply the first and the second stage vector quantizers to the third plurality of mid scale parameters, and to apply the second vector quantizer stage to the fourth plurality of side scale parameters and to not apply the first stage vector quantizer (141, 143) to the fourth plurality of side scale parameters. a first stage vector quantizer (141, 143) for quantizing the plurality of audio information items to determine a first stage vector quantization result and a plurality of intermediate quantized items corresponding to the first stage vector quantization result; a residual item determiner for calculating a plurality of residual items from the plurality of intermediate quantized items and the plurality of audio information items; and a second stage vector quantizer for quantizing the plurality of residual items to obtain a second stage vector quantization result, wherein the first stage vector quantization result and the second stage vector quantization result are a quantized representation of the plurality of audio information items, wherein the audio information items comprise, for a first frame of a multichannel audio signal, a first plurality of scale parameters for a first channel of the multichannel audio signal, and a second plurality of scale parameters for a second channel of the multichannel audio signal, wherein the audio quantizer is configured to apply the first and the second stage vector quantizers to the first plurality and the second plurality of the first frame, wherein the audio information items comprise, for a second frame of the multichannel audio signal, a third plurality of mid scale parameters and a fourth plurality of side scale parameters, and wherein the audio quantizer is configured to apply the first and the second stage vector quantizers to the third plurality of mid scale parameters, and to apply the second vector quantizer stage to the fourth plurality of side scale parameters and to not apply the first stage vector quantizer (141, 143) to the fourth plurality of side scale parameters.