Design of lifter heights and configuration are crucial for an Autogenous and Semi-autogenous (AG/SAG) grinding mill overall performance, such as power draw, charge trajectory, liner-lifter wear rate and product quality. Contributing to mill optimisation discourse through sensing technique, the present study aims to investigate the mill acoustic response and product performance of four types of lifter configurations, namely low (Lo), high (Hi), low-high (Lo-Hi) and very high (v-Hi) using a laboratory experimental AG/SAG mill (300 × 150 mm). Under similar operating conditions, the results showed that mill acoustic response measurements associated with different lifter height configurations by large produced distinct variations. The v-Hi lifters produced the maximum mill acoustic emissions, an indication of higher ball charge trajectory, followed by Hi and Lo lifters. The acoustic emission of Hi and Lo-Hi lifters were closely related to each other. In contrast, the cumulative product size distribution also reduces with increasing the lifter height configurations. Results of the mill acoustic response of different lifter heights reflect well with the size distribution, demonstrating that acoustic sensing technique could serve as a potential diagnostic tool to protect the mill liner-lifter wear rate and enhance overall mill performance.