A handheld audio system includes a radio signal decoder integrated circuit (IC) and a digital audio processing integrated circuit. The radio signal decoder integrated circuit produces a digital left channel signal and a digital right channel signal from a received radio signal in accordance with an enable signal and also produces a system clock. The digital audio processing integrated circuit includes a DC-to-DC converter and a processing module. The DC-to-DC converter is operably coupled to produce at least one power supply voltage based on the system clock. The processing module is operably coupled to produce the enable signal when the at least one power supply voltage has reached a desired level and to produce audio signals for audio playback from at least one of the digital left and right channel signals and a stored digital audio file.