1. A mobile device adapted for automatic speech recognition (ASR) and employing at least one hardware implemented computer processor, the device comprising: a user interface for interaction with a user and including: a. an input microphone for obtaining speech inputs from the user for automatic speech recognition, and b. an output interface for providing a system output to the user based on ASR results that correspond to the speech input; and a local controller for: a. obtaining a sample of non-ASR audio from the input microphone for ASR-adaptation to channel-specific ASR characteristics, and then b. providing a representation of the non-ASR audio to a remote ASR server for server-side adaptation to the channel-specific ASR characteristics, and then c. providing a representation of an unknown ASR speech input from the input microphone to the remote ASR server for determining ASR results corresponding to the unknown ASR speech input, and then d. providing the system output to the output interface.