This paper presents two vibration control approaches using piezoelectric inserts applied to a switched reluctance machine (SRM) in order to reduce acoustic emission. The semiactive approach, called synchronized switch damping, consists of a particular voltage processing that increases the electromechanical energy conversion of the piezoelectric insert and leads to effective vibration energy dissipation. Piezoelectric inserts can also be considered as actuators: the active technique aims at imposing an adequate force in order to compensate the structure strain originated by the electromagnetic forces. These two techniques are compared on a single-phase structure mechanically similar to that of an SRM. Advantages and drawbacks depending on the chosen technique are then discussed.