An Apparatus and a Method for Calculating a Number of Spectral Envelopes

An apparatus (100) for generating bandwidth extension output data (102) for an audio signal (105) comprises a noise floor measurer (110), a signal energy characterizer (120) and a processor (130). The audio signal (105) comprises components in a first frequency band (105a) and components in a second frequency band (105b), the bandwidth extension output data (102) are adapted to control a synthesis of the components in the second frequency band (105b). The noise floor measurer (110) measures noise floor data (115) of the second frequency band (105b) for a time portion (T) of the audio signal (105). The signal energy characterizer (120) derives energy distribution data (125), the energy distribution data (125) characterizing an energy distribution in a spectrum of the time portion (T) of the audio signal (105). The processor (130) combines the noise floor data (115) and the energy distribution data (125) to obtain the bandwidth extension output data (102).