Should sound and image be coherent during live performances?

Abstract : During amplified live music performance, the positions of sound sources rarely coincide with the positions of their related visual sources. Yet, several studies have suggested that audiovisual spatial coherence could improve the experience of the audience. In the present experiment, sound engineers had to produce two different mixes for several sequences extracted from concert videos: one freestyle mix where they could spatialize the sound sources at their pleasure, and one spatially-constrained mix, where the sound sources had to be reproduced at the same azimuth as the original positions of the related visual sources. A subjective evaluation revealed that the spatially-constrained mixes were preferred when the image was displayed, although the freestyle mixes were preferred when the image was not displayed.