An MPEG-2 audio decoding processor core is described with a focus on inverse quantization (IQ) and multichannel processing (MC) of Layer I and II decoding. A novel architecture that we propose can perform IQ at a high throughput. In addition, different types of dematrixing modes for MC process in the MPEG-2 standard can also be performed. The processor core is implemented and controlled with a dedicated hardware approach instead of the traditional programmable techniques. Moreover, the design has the advantages of simplicity and low cost while meeting the high-efficiency requirements with a fixed throughput.