Explore our acoustic and audio laboratories
New Acoustics Building
The new acoustics institute will see a step change in the innovation and development which the University of Salford can offer, enabling forensic precision engineering on everything from AI-enabled hearing aids which will make music sound better, to the noise that heat pumps create.
Costing nearly £24m and built by Morgan Sindall Construction, the new state-of-the-art building will feature vibration-isolating foundations and walls constructed from extra dense concrete to insulate the space from external noise and create several idealised acoustic environments. Completion is scheduled for mid 2027.
As an acoustics and audio-based student, you're going to spend lots of time in our laboratories - so we've made sure that we have access to some of the best around. During your studies, you'll be based in our world-class acoustics and audio facilities and laboratories.
Applying our industry-focused approach, we've designed our laboratories and facilities to mirror those used in professional practice and industry testing. By using advanced equipment from day one, you'll build advanced skills and be ready to flourish in your graduate career.
Reverberation Chambers
The absorption of architectural materials is vital to creating amazing acoustics. When designing rooms and buildings, we need to make sure reverberation time of the space is right so that speech is intelligible, and music sounds at its best.
We use our reverberation chambers to measure absorption coefficients of materials used in buildings throughout the world. The place has some serious echo (echo) (echo) (echo)....
Listening Rooms
Acoustic engineers explore how people respond to sound so they can design products to sound better.
Our listening room is an acoustically neutral environment for perceptual testing. In this room, we might test which surround sound system creates a realistic sense of being enveloped by sound, the perceptual quality of hi-fi components.
We might even test which hair dryer makes the least annoying noise.
Audio Editing Suites
Our Audio Production suite includes Mac Pro digital audio workstations designed for mixdown preparation, audio editing, sequencing, electronic music production, sampling and synthesis.
Each workstation is equipped with Avid Pro Tools, Adobe Audition, Native Instruments Komplete, Propellerheads Reason and Record, Steinberg Cubase, Sennheiser Headphones, Waldorf Microwave Synthesizer, Novation Nocturn keyboard and Avid MBox.
The Sound of Silence
Experience the Anechoic Chamber
At Salford, we have one of the quietest space you might ever experience. A place where sound cannot be reflected. So quiet, you can even hear the liquids move throughout your body.
The Anechoic Chamber is a room which acoustically is like being in the open air, high above the ground. To achieve this effect, the surfaces are lined with foam wedges to absorb sound and the floor is a wire trampoline stretched between the walls with an acoustically transparent catch net below.
We use our Anechoic Chamber for testing the response of loudspeakers or microphones. It is also great for generating virtual acoustics of concert halls, city streets and other spaces.
But it's not just for world-class research and study. The Anechoic Chamber also makes a great space for our music society to hold jam sessions!