Strain-gauge phono cartridges are rarely made and seldom heard; for most vinyl fans, they are more myth than fact. Panasonic once made one, as did Sao Win, but those were decades ago. I've heard about those two models for years but have never seen, much less heard one.

As if he's not got enough to do building his extensive lines of moving-iron cartridges, preamplifiers, amplifiers, and speakers, Soundsmith's Peter Ledermann also makes a full line of strain-gauge cartridge systems available with a choice of six user-replaceable stylus profiles. I believe the Soundsmith is the only strain-gauge cartridge currently made anywhere in the world. Ledermann says it takes him a full day to build one.

Pinetop Perkins at SXSW 2011

Many years ago, when all of the South by Southwest seminars and panels were located inside the Hyatt Hotel across Town Lake from downtown Austin, I tottered in from a long night of music and revelry, and stood waiting for one of the glass elevators that ran up and down one side of the hotel’s giant atrium. When the car arrived the doors swung open to reveal Mississippi blues piano player Pinetop Perkins who according to my math had to be in his early Eighties then, and who, with a mixture of teeth and gold in his mouth, was flanked by two beautiful and much younger white women luxuriously dressed in fur coats. Far be it from me to cast aspirations but these looked to me like working girls. The dapper Pinetop shot me the most mischievous grin you can imagine while slipping his arms around each woman’s waist.

Sunday, March 27, 8pm: Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, Mike Patton, Sean Lennon, Cibo Matto, Mephista, Marc Ribot, Uri Caine, and Aleph Trio&#151awesome line-up!&#151will perform at Miller Theater (2960 Broadway, NYC) in a Japan Benefit Concert.

“The tragedy and devastation is really overwhelming,” says John Zorn, who has organized and will host the evening. “I’ve always felt a strong personal connection to Japan, and I’m just glad to be able to do my part to help. It should be an amazing night.”

Both the performers and the theater are donating their services, ensuring that 100% of proceeds from ticket sales will go to benefit the victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit near Sendai on March 11. Funds will be donated to the Japan Society’s Earthquake Relief Fund.

Tickets for the show were sold out shortly after they went on sale, but Miller Theater has created a web page with information on ways to support Japan relief and a list of other benefit concerts in New York. Included among those benefit shows:

Friday, April 8, 6:30 & 9:30pm: Thurston Moore, Matthew Shipp, Ikue Mori and John Zorn, Milford Graves, Mark Feldman and Sylvie Courvoisier&#151awesome line-up!!!&#151Norah Jones, Buke and Gass, and others will perform at the Abrons Arts Center.
Saturday, April 9: The Japan Society will hold a day-long benefit concert, including gala performances at 1pm and 6pm, with performances by Philip Glass, Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, and Ryuichi Sakamoto.

More benefit shows will be announced.

Tomorrow, March 23, 8pm: Yo La Tengo will perform at Maxwell’s (1039 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ). Tickets cost $50, with all proceeds from ticket sales and fees going to Peace Winds Japan. I hope to see you there.

Thinksound ts02 in Black Chocolate finish.

I haven’t had much luck with in-ear headphones.

Kelli’s Etymotic ER-6i earphones ($99) offered a well-balanced sound, with satisfying bass and natural highs, but I found them extremely uncomfortable and I had a difficult time getting them to fit properly in my ear canals. I liked Shure’s SE210 ($149.99) and SE115 ($139.99), but they felt large and heavy in my ears, and friends often balked at their prices. Don’t get me started about the V-MODA Remix Metal in-ears ($99.99); their highs were so pronounced and glaring and bass so completely absent, I wanted to run away from my music&#151never a good sign. (But I’ll take the blame here: I should’ve known what to expect from an earphone with the word “Metal” in its name. I have since steered clear of models designed to look like bullets, arrows, and jet engines or whose product literature uses the words “crisp,” “sharp,” or “edgy.”)