You hear deep house and future house thrown around at clubs and on streaming playlists, but telling them apart can feel confusing. Both genres sit in the 120-130 BPM range and share house music DNA. The difference comes down to vibe and sound design. Deep house pulls from jazz and soul, creating a moodier, deeper feel with subdued basslines. Future house brings brighter energy with hollow, bouncy bass stabs and an upbeat rhythm that makes you want to move immediately.

This guide breaks down exactly how to recognize each genre. You'll learn their distinct origins, production techniques, and signature sounds. We'll cover tempo differences, bassline styles, and the production tricks that define each genre. You'll also discover key artists like Larry Heard for deep house and Oliver Heldens for future house, plus specific tracks that showcase what makes each style unique. By the end, you'll know exactly what you're hearing when these genres pop up on your playlist.

Understanding the deep house vs future house distinction helps you make better music choices for different situations. If you're DJing a sunset lounge set, dropping future house tracks with aggressive bass stabs will kill the mood. Deep house fits that vibe perfectly. Similarly, playing deep house at a peak-hour festival set leaves dancers waiting for energy that never arrives.

Producers benefit even more from knowing these differences. You can't market a track properly if you misidentify its genre. Labels reject submissions that don't match their catalog style. Distributors tag your music incorrectly, sending it to playlists where it doesn't belong. Your track then gets skipped by listeners who came for something else.

Knowing your genre lets you find the right audience and venues for your music.

Fans gain clarity too. You stop wasting time on playlists labeled "house" that mix everything together. You discover artists who actually match what you want to hear instead of clicking through dozens of tracks that sound wrong.

The fastest way to distinguish deep house vs future house is listening to the bass. Deep house uses warm, rolling basslines that sit deeper in the mix and create a hypnotic groove. Future house hits you with metallic, hollow bass stabs that bounce aggressively and dominate the track. That bass character alone reveals which genre you're hearing within seconds.

Both genres operate in the 120-130 BPM range, but they feel different. Deep house leans toward the slower end with fluid, swinging rhythms that let you groove rather than jump. Future house pushes toward 128 BPM with tight, quantized beats that punch harder and leave less room for interpretation. The kick drum patterns also differ. Deep house keeps kicks subtle and warm, blending into the mix. Future house makes them sharp and prominent, cutting through everything else.

Future house defines itself through that signature plucky bass sound that bounces between notes rapidly. Producers create this using detuned saw waves with heavy sidechain compression. Deep house avoids this entirely. You'll hear sub bass frequencies that rumble below the surface instead of attacking your ears

You need speakers that work right out of the box. No separate amps to lug around. No complicated wiring. Just plug in and play. But walk into any music store or scroll through online shops and you face hundreds of powered speaker options. Some cost as much as a used car. Others seem suspiciously cheap. Which ones actually deliver clean sound at your gigs without breaking your back or your budget?

This guide covers five powered speakers that DJs actually use. We included traditional PA options for club gigs and weddings, plus battery models for outdoor events and practice sessions. Each speaker here earned its spot based on sound quality, reliability, and real use cases. You'll find detailed breakdowns of what each model does well, where it falls short, and which situations call for which speaker. By the end, you'll know exactly which powered speaker fits your setup and your style of DJing.

The QSC K12.2 appears in more clubs and wedding venues than almost any other powered speaker. This 12-inch two-way speaker delivers 2,000 watts of power and handles crowds up to 300 people without breaking a sweat. Professional DJs choose it because it sounds consistent night after night and rarely needs repairs.

Walk into any venue with experienced sound engineers and you'll find QSC speakers in their inventory. The K12.2 earned its reputation through years of consistent performance across thousands of events. Your audio stays clean at high volumes, and the speaker responds accurately to whatever genre you play.

You get built-in amplification that matches perfectly with the drivers, eliminating guesswork about external amps. The onboard DSP includes multiple presets for different applications, from DJ setups to live vocals. Adjusting the contour settings takes seconds using the rear panel controls.

This speaker pushes low frequencies down to 55Hz, which means you feel the kick drums without muddiness. Your mid and high frequencies cut through clearly even when the room fills with people. The coverage pattern spreads sound evenly across 90 degrees horizontal and 75 degrees vertical.

A pair of K12.2s handles most DJ gigs without subs, though adding one transforms the system for bass-heavy electronic music.

Each speaker weighs 51 pounds, which one person can carry with proper technique. The polypropylene enclosure survives years of loading and unloading. Mount them on standard speaker stands, angle them correctly toward your audience, and you're ready to play.

These speakers work best for weddings, corporate events, and small to medium club nights. You can fill spaces holding 150 to 300 people with a pair. Mobile DJs and residents both rely on the K12.2 for its versatility.

Expect to pay around $800 per speaker when shopping new. Adding a QSC KW181 subwoofer creates a full-range system perfect for bass-heavy genres and larger crowds beyond 300 people.

The RCF ART 915-A competes directly with QSC while costing slightly less in most markets. This 15-inch powered speaker handles 1,400 watts and produces sound that many DJs describe as warmer than its competitors. Italian engineering meets practical design in a speaker that works equally well for electronic music and live vocals.

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Missing out on festival announcements means scrambling for tickets after lineups drop or finding out your favorite DJ is headlining a show that already sold out. You refresh multiple sites trying to catch lineup reveals and ticket sales before they go live. The news comes at you from every direction and keeping track of dates, locations, and presale codes becomes a full time job.

This guide breaks down six platforms that handle EDM festival news differently. Each one offers its own approach to lineup reveals, calendar tools, and ticket alerts. You will find options that syndicate articles from top sources, platforms that focus on local events with push notifications, databases covering hundreds of festivals worldwide, and sites that combine news with expert reviews. Whether you want a daily news feed or an interactive event tracker, these six resources keep you informed about the festivals and shows that matter most to you.

RIKIO ROCKS operates as your centralized daily news feed for edm festival news by syndicating articles from top EDM magazines and producers. The platform aggregates content into one location so you stop bouncing between dozens of sources trying to catch announcements. You get a continuous stream of updates covering festivals, concerts, raves, and club events without missing critical information buried across multiple websites.

This platform functions as a news aggregation hub that pulls together syndicated festival content from leading industry publications. You access a single feed instead of subscribing to ten different newsletters or following twenty different social media accounts to stay informed.

The site dedicates entire categories to festivals and concerts, separating this content from other EDM news like production gear or artist profiles. You filter specifically for event announcements and festival updates when you need lineup information or location details without scrolling through unrelated articles.

Lineup announcements appear in the daily feed as they break, sourced from the original publications that publish them first. You see attributed articles with clear dates showing when each lineup was revealed and which publication reported it.

Published dates accompany each article, helping you track announcement timelines and understand how recent the information is. The chronological feed structure keeps the newest festival news at the top so you spot fresh announcements immediately.

Articles syndicated from source publications include ticket sale information when the original stories cover it. You find links to official ticketing announcements within the festival news pieces that appear in the feed.

Your daily pulse on the electronic dance music scene delivers festival updates without requiring you to monitor multiple sources.

Check the RSS feed daily or subscribe to it for automatic delivery of new festival articles. Focus on the Festivals category to filter out other EDM content and zero in on event announcements that matter to your planning.

EDM House Network delivers daily edm festival news alongside music releases and arti

You have a gig coming up and need professional DJ gear without dropping thousands on equipment you might use once. Buying a CDJ3000 or high end mixer makes no sense when you can rent the exact setup you need for a weekend. The challenge is finding local rental services that actually stock quality gear and deliver on time.

This guide breaks down seven rental services you can book right now. You'll see what gear each company carries, where they deliver, how their pricing works, and which situations make each option worth your money. Whether you're spinning at a wedding in NYC or throwing a club night in Austin, these companies can get you the equipment you need.

RIKIO ROCKS maintains a curated directory of DJ equipment rental services across the United States, connecting EDM enthusiasts with local vendors. This platform functions as your central resource for comparing rental options, reading equipment reviews, and finding services that stock the gear you need for your next event.

The platform aggregates rental listings from independent vendors and national chains, giving you a single place to research options when you need to rent dj equipment near me. You'll find detailed breakdowns of each service's inventory, pricing structures, and delivery capabilities. RIKIO ROCKS updates this information regularly to reflect current availability and market rates.

The directory covers everything from entry level controllers to professional CDJ setups. You can research Pioneer CDJ3000s, Allen & Heath mixers, Technics turntables, DJ controllers from brands like Native Instruments and Roland, plus complete PA systems with speakers and lighting rigs.

Coverage spans major metro areas including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, and Miami. Some featured vendors offer nationwide shipping, while others focus on local delivery within specific cities or regions.

Most rental services featured on RIKIO ROCKS offer same day or next day delivery for local orders.

RIKIO ROCKS provides direct links to vendor booking pages and contact information. The platform includes user reviews and ratings to help you pick reliable services with responsive customer support.

Weekend rental rates typically run $25 to $150 for controllers, $50 to $200 for CDJs, and $30 to $100 for mixers based on model and features.

Use this guide when you're researching multiple vendors at once or need to compare equipment options across different rental companies. The platform works best for DJs who want comprehensive market research before committing to a specific rental service.

Guitar Center operates over 300 locations across the United States and maintains a dedicated rental program for DJ equipment. You can walk into most stores to inspect gear in person or book online through their centralized rental platform. Their inventory includes trusted brands like Pioneer, Numark, RANE, and Yamaha, giving you access to professional grade equipment without the commitment of purchasing.

The company structures rentals around weekend, weekly, and monthly terms with s

Today’s patch is remarkable not for complexity – it’s very simple – but for ridiculous versatility. Let’s call it ‘80s Synth’. From Axel F to Human League, to A-Ha, nail this, and you'll never need another 80s sample pack again.

“A patch can’t be versatile!” you cry. “It just sounds like what it is!”

Wrong. Because this patch sounds great, no matter what notes you play. You’ve danced to it as a b-line, made love to it as chords, and played air synth to it as a tinkly lead. 

This is very unusual. Most patches sound great low… or high… but rubbish at the other end.

Not only that, but 80s Synth is harmonically simple and percussive, so you can make an entire track using no other musical parts, which is almost unheard of in synthland. As proof, below is a groove using the same 80s Synth in three ways. 

So yes, disclaimer, the basic patch is very simple indeed. But this walkthrough is as much about why it works and how to adapt it as it is how to make it. It even offers up some broader tips, including how to handle busy mixdowns.

Not only that, but you still hear loads of electronic tracks with subtle variants of this patch today.

And if you take away nothing else: always preview patches low, middle, and high, in case you miss their best register!

Download all the MIDI files here to follow along.

Any subtractive synth can do 80s Synth but we’re gonna use u-he’s virtual Prophet 5, Repro 5. The Prophet 5’s tailor made for 80s Synth and was used on loads of the tracks you recognise it from. You can get it on a free trial to follow along with here.

Load Repro-5 (or similar) now and load an ‘init’ (initialised) patch.

It’s easier to program a synth with a riff playing, so grab the MIDI file below. Any passing resemblance to Take On Me is entirely coincidental, but A-ha’s hit does use a very similar sound, albeit made on a Juno 60 (more on that later). 

Repro 5’s INIT settings actually default quite close to 80s Synth, but if you’re using another synth, you want both Oscillator A and B set to a saw wave, with B an octave below the A (see image).

Level-wise, set A up to the max, and B to around 75%. 

This patch is quite percussive, defined in large part by the filter envelope acting on the Prophet’s low-pass filter, so next set Cutoff to 25% and Envelope Amount to 60%, setting us up for a harmonic frequency spike at the start. 

The temptation now will be to generate all of the patch’s percussiveness using the filter. For example, if you set Filter Attack to 0, Decay to 38, and Sustain to 20, you get this…

But that punchiness comes at the expense of tonality. This patch is already very simple, harmonically, so making the filter envelope too extreme loses the versatility we’re after.

Instead, set Attack to 0%, Decay to 60%, Sustain to 50% and Release to 55%.

Free plugin introduces groundbreaking pitch-controlled resonances, available through December 31, 2025

Eventide Audio has released Temperance Lite, a new plugin that reimagines the way reverb is controlled and heard. Now available as a free download until the end of 2025, Temperance Lite is described as the first plugin to offer a musical approach to reverb, allowing users to manipulate resonance based on the chromatic scale.

Unlike traditional algorithmic or convolution reverbs, which simulate physical spaces or apply impulse responses, Temperance Lite lets users emphasise or suppress specific notes across the 12-tone scale. The plugin uses a form of modal reverb, a technique that has existed conceptually for decades but was previously impractical to implement in real time. Advances in computing power have now made this possible, and Eventide has integrated it into a user-friendly interface aimed at musicians and producers.

The concept of musical reverb — controlling how specific pitches resonate or decay within a space — is not entirely new but has historically been more theoretical than practical. With Temperance Lite, Eventide has built on this idea by giving users direct control over reverb resonances, akin to tuning a room to resonate musically.

The central control, the Temper Knob, adjusts how strongly the reverb emphasises or suppresses selected pitches. Accompanying this is the NoteScape Visualizer, which offers a real-time display of resonating and fading notes, giving users a clear visual sense of how the reverb responds musically. This visual feedback could be particularly useful for sound designers and musicians aiming for tonally sympathetic spatial effects.

The plugin includes three distinct reverb environments: Bright Room, based on Eventide’s earlier SP2016 reverb; Large Studio, modelled after a space provided by acoustics researcher Dr Ralph Kessler; and Synthetic Space, which uses the new modal reverb engine to create entirely imagined, evolving textures.

By introducing a tonal element to reverb shaping, Temperance Lite represents a shift in how producers can integrate spatial effects into their work. Traditional reverbs are typically treated as either spatial effects or tools for depth, but this pitch-responsive approach makes reverb an extension of harmonic and melodic content.

This could be particularly useful in ambient, electronic, or experimental genres, where the interaction between space and tone is critical to the composition. The ability to favour or reduce specific resonances might also benefit mixing engineers looking to control clutter in dense arrangements.

Temperance Lite is compatible with 64-bit AAX, AU, and VST3 formats on macOS 10.14+ and Windows 10+, requiring an SSE 4.2-capable processor on Windows systems. It is available as a free download from Eventide's official website through December 31, 2025.