1. A method for compressing data, comprising the steps of: (a) quantizing an input vector by representing said input vector with a vector quantization (VQ) codevector selected from a VQ codebook partitioned into subsets, wherein each subset comprises codevectors and each one of said codevectors is stored at a corresponding address in said VQ codebook; (b) generating a rate dependent Huffman codeword for the selected codevector, wherein said rate dependent Huffman codeword identifies the subset of said VQ codebook in which the selected codevector is stored; and (c) generating a substantially rate independent Huffman codeword for the selected codevector, wherein said substantially rate independent Huffman codeword identifies a particular VQ codevector within the subset identified by said rate dependent Huffman codeword.