Best Sound Design Studios in Melbourne (2026)

Introduction

Melbourne has seven sound design and audio post studios on this list, covering commercials, sonic branding, voice work and long-form film and television mixing. They were chosen for recent credits, the depth of their teams and evidence of an active Melbourne studio in 2026.

Most of the advertising audio work clusters in South Melbourne and Southbank, close to the agencies that brief it, while the larger film mixing stages sit in Port Melbourne. The past year brought some movement. Squeak E. Clean Studios restructured its operations in October 2025 and kept its South Melbourne studio as the base for Australian and New Zealand clients. In Collingwood, Echo Darling now shares a post-production building with an editor and the colour studio Moodlab, so agencies can finish picture and sound in one place. On the screen side, Melbourne-made Memoir of a Snail earned an Academy Award nomination in 2025, with picture, sound and VFX completed at Soundfirm.

Every studio here has a working Melbourne studio in 2026. The list is unranked, since the right choice depends on whether you need a 30-second mix by Friday, a sonic identity for a brand or a feature film in Atmos.

The best sound design studios in Melbourne

1. Squeak E. Clean Studios

Part of the Squeak E. Clean Studios network · South Melbourne · squeakeclean.com

Squeak E. Clean Studios is a music and sound company with studios in Melbourne, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Austin. The Melbourne studio began as Nylon Studios, which combined with Squeak E. Clean in 2019. Executive producer Ceri Davies and head of sound design Paul Le Couteur lead the team from a converted warehouse on Yarra Place.

Its 2026 credits include Toyota’s “Mud Dance” with Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, Taubmans “All Weather” and National Tiles spots with Sunday Gravy, and Bupa work with 2045. The studio covers original music, sonic branding, music supervision, sound design and final mixing, which suits agencies that want music and sound handled by one team.

2. Echo Darling

Audio post and music studio · Collingwood · echodarling.com

Echo Darling is an audio post and music composition studio on Sackville Street in Collingwood, working for advertising and film. The team includes Laura Hesse, Rob Stephens, Pip Atherstone-Reid and Simon Rosenberg. In 2026 it became one of three companies in a shared post-production hub, alongside editor James Ashbolt and the colour and finishing studio Moodlab.

Its advertising work leans on Melbourne clients: TAC road safety campaigns (“Split Second”, “Keep the Tempo”), Bendigo Bank, Cancer Council Victoria and Louis Vuitton’s Australian Open films. It also mixes features and series in 5.1 and stereo, with credits including The Deb and Holy Days.

3. Rumble Studios

Music and sound studio · South Melbourne · rumblestudios.tv

Rumble Studios is a music and sound design studio headquartered in Sydney, with a Melbourne studio on Union Street in South Melbourne since 2022. Senior sound designer Liam Annert, formerly of Risk Sound, leads the Melbourne team, and jobs move between the two cities so clients can draw on the combined pool of sound designers, composers and producers.

The studio offers composition, sound design, voiceover recording and sonic branding for advertising, film and television. In August 2026 it rebranded with Melbourne agency Bear Meets Eagle On Fire, introducing a modular logo, and the same partnership featured in LBB’s AUNZ Work of the Week.

4. Bang Bang Studios

Audio post studio · Southbank · bangbangstudios.com.au

Bang Bang Studios is an audio post-production studio on Douglas Street in Southbank, run by director Polly McGregor. It handles the whole chain from sound design and final mix through voice casting, composition, music supervision, foley, ADR and 5.1 surround, with Source-Connect for remote voice sessions.

Its portfolio is strong in automotive, with work for Toyota, BYD’s Sealion 6, BMW, Porsche, Lexus and Mini. Arts and public sector clients include The Australian Ballet, Opera Australia, Lifeblood and St John Ambulance, which makes it a sensible option for briefs with a lot of voice and casting work.

5. Soundfirm

Film and television post house · Port Melbourne · soundfirm.com

Soundfirm is a long-established screen post house with facilities in Port Melbourne, Sydney and Beijing, offering sound mixing, sound design, ADR, sound editing and dubbing alongside picture and VFX services. It lists an Academy Award for sound mixing on Hacksaw Ridge among its credits.

Recent work includes picture, sound and VFX on Memoir of a Snail, the 2025 Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature, plus sound on The Newsreader series three and The Narrow Road to the Deep North. Productions can book a full sound package, single services or dry hire of suites.

6. The Post Lounge

Independent · Collingwood · thepostlounge.com

The Post Lounge is an independently owned post-production company with studios in Melbourne (Collingwood), Sydney, Brisbane and on the Gold Coast at Village Roadshow Studios. Its sound department covers sound editing, ADR, foley, mixing and mastering for film and television.

Selected credits include Elvis for Warner Bros., Better Man and Eden. It suits long-form productions that want sound post from a company that can also handle picture, and its spread of sites helps when a shoot or edit sits in another state.

7. BoomTracks

Film and television sound studio · Port Melbourne · boomtracks.com.au

BoomTracks is a sound post studio specialising in mixing, sound design and foley, with studios in Melbourne and Adelaide and affiliates in Los Angeles. Its mixing rooms are Dolby Atmos cinema-certified, suiting theatrical releases and streaming series.

The recording rooms handle ADR, voice and foley, and the foley team sources many of its sounds on location. It is a practical choice for drama and documentary producers who need Atmos deliverables without leaving Victoria.

What to look for in a Melbourne sound design studio

Start with the kind of work you are commissioning. Advertising studios such as those in South Melbourne and Southbank are set up for fast turnarounds, multiple cut-downs and broadcast and cinema loudness specs. Film houses in Port Melbourne are built for weeks of dialogue editing, foley and Atmos mixing. A few, such as Echo Darling, cross between the two.

Ask who will be in the room. Melbourne’s sound community is small and designers move between studios, so the person whose reel you liked may now be elsewhere. Name the sound designer or mixer in the quote, and check whether music is composed in-house or sourced through a partner.

Be clear about rights and deliverables early. Original music, library tracks and licensed songs carry different costs and usage terms, and a campaign running on TV, cinema, radio and social will need separate mixes for each. A studio that offers music supervision can save time on clearances.

Finally, agree how files and feedback will move. A single spot can generate session files, stems, voice takes and several mix versions, and approvals often run across agency, client and production company. Studios that keep one clear record of the latest mix and where each round of notes landed tend to finish on schedule.

How Fabric helps sound design teams

Fabric gives audio teams one workspace for session files, stems, scripts and client feedback, with AI search across all of it. Sound work produces a lot of versions, and keeping them in shared team folders on Fabric’s cloud drive means everyone opens the latest mix. Files stream on demand, so large sessions and stem packs take no local disk space, and the built-in viewer plays files without a download.

Audio and video transcription turns uploaded WAV, MP3, M4A and video files into searchable text with clickable timestamps, which helps when finding a particular voice take or a line in a director’s cut. Search works by meaning across documents, transcribed recordings and connected apps such as Google Drive and Dropbox, and results jump straight to the right timestamp. There is more on keeping sessions in order in your audio sessions are scattered.

For client review, a folder of mixes can be published as a web page and shared with password protection. Agency producers and clients can leave threaded comments on any file through a shared link without signing up, and link analytics shows when each named recipient opened it. Comments on audio and video are timestamped, so each note points to the exact moment in the mix.

Fabric uses AES-256 encryption, is CASA Tier 2 certified and does not use customer data to train AI models. For a wider comparison of storage options, see best cloud storage for music production.

Password protection and link analytics are included on Pro and Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best sound design studio in Melbourne?

There is no single answer, as it depends on the job. For advertising, Squeak E. Clean Studios, Echo Darling, Rumble Studios and Bang Bang Studios all have current Melbourne credits. For film and television mixing, Soundfirm, The Post Lounge and BoomTracks run larger stages, including Dolby Atmos rooms.

What happened to Nylon Studios in Melbourne?

Nylon Studios combined with Squeak E. Clean in 2019 to form Squeak E. Clean Studios. The South Melbourne studio that Nylon opened continues under the Squeak E. Clean Studios name, still led by executive producer Ceri Davies.

Where are Melbourne’s audio post studios based?

Advertising sound studios cluster in South Melbourne and Southbank, with Echo Darling and The Post Lounge in Collingwood. The film mixing houses are mostly in Port Melbourne.

Do Melbourne sound studios also compose music?

Several do. Squeak E. Clean Studios, Rumble Studios, Echo Darling and Bang Bang Studios all offer original composition alongside sound design, and some also handle music supervision and licensing.

Can I finish picture and sound in the same place in Melbourne?

Yes. Soundfirm and The Post Lounge offer both picture and sound post, and Echo Darling shares a Collingwood building with an editor and the colour studio Moodlab. For full-service houses, see the best post-production studios in Melbourne.

Related lists

Sound design studios in other cities: Sydney · New York · London · Los Angeles · Toronto

More in Melbourne: Creative agencies · Advertising agencies · Post-production · Video production · Animation

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for music creators · Fabric for creative teams · How to organise audio project files