Click here for the Sonic Lab Specifications in detail

The Sonic Laboratory at the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) could best be thought of as a 'cinema for the ear' - a specialist acoustic space designed to provide a unique and immersive listening experience - the auditory equivalent of an IMAX cinema. Forty-eight loudspeakers, strategically located, project and move sounds throughout the 360 degrees of the space, including above and underneath the audience.  The Sonic Lab was designed with an acoustically transparent, modular grid floor suspended 4m above the basement level.  No other auditorium for sonic art performance and experimentation currently exists with this revolutionary feature. The provision of this facility gives Northern Ireland a unique and pioneering role in a rapidly developing field.

How the Lab is used

The Sonic Lab is a flexible space used for teaching, public concerts, screenings, installations and for developing and implementing cutting edge research linked to the emerging creative industries.  As an engineering research facility, the Sonic Laboratory provides unique opportunities to develop and test new ideas relating to virtual reality / augmented reality, immersive media, Dolby Atmos, loudspeaker design, music perception, musical interactions, new instrument design and sound engineering.