Accurate estimation of soil dynamic properties is necessary in most geotechnical earthquake engineering applications. This paper presents a comparison of the identification of soil parameters using two soil material definitions. The identification technique is geared towards soil deposits subjected to base excitation, and it uses the acceleration records provided by a vertical (downhole) array. The implemented material models include an equivalent linear model based on the Kelvin–Voigt formulation, and a nonlinear model which uses a hyperbolic definition of the shear stress-strain backbone curve of the material. Shear wave velocity (Vs) and damping ratio (β) are estimated based on the material behavior. Capabilities of the identification analyses using both soil models are assessed using a reduced-scale centrifuge test.