A membrane-based silencer using dielectric elastomer absorbers (DEAs) was developed and explored in the present study. Dielectric elastomer, a soft smart material, was used to fabricate this actuator. It has the characteristic of lightweight, high elastic energy density and large deformation under external direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) voltages. The typical acoustic performances of this membrane-based silencer were experimentally identified using a transmission loss (TL) duct acoustic measurement system. It was found that the resonance peaks of this membrane-based silencer could be controlled by applying different external voltages, a maximum resonance frequency shift of 59.5 Hz for the resonance peaks was achieved which indicated that this membrane-based silencer could be adjusted to absorb the target noise without any addition mechanical part. Furthermore, the resonance shift and multiple resonances mechanisms using DEAs were proposed and discussed which was aiming to achieve multi-peaks noise reduction. The present results also provide insight into the appropriateness of the absorber for possible use as an acoustic treatment to replace the traditional acoustic treatment in the noise reduction technology. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.