Phono cartridges (as transducers) are exposed to vibrations that can cause the cartridge body itself to generate sound, a common experience when playing a 1KHz test signal track on a test record -- you hear the 1KHz sound when you are close to the cartridge. We encapsulate the body in a non-resonant shell of bamboo, with all of its self damping properties, additionally we encase the exposed body of the cartridge with a coating of a non-silica based mineral crystal (nepheline) which we use to further dampen and diffuse the sound energy that comes from the stylus cantilever. Our cartridges - notably - tend to sound much quieter when tracking a 1KHz test signal, and this translates to a more faithful transcription of the groove waveform modulations, with all of the benefits that a better transduction brings. This also has the slight benefit of adding mass in a critical area where it is beneficial to the stylus.