Thanks for your positive comments about my last post.
I should have added some comment about using some sort of water that's more pure than tap water. Some people do use just running water from the tap, but it does seem logical that some sort of purer water would be better.
Overall, I think it's a good idea to plan to get a record cleaning system in from the start. It's not necessarily critical for new records, or records that are known to be in good condition. But it is important for used records. And a big advantage of analog is buying used records. At $10 per CD (or CD equivalent iTunes download), you can buy 26 records at $1 each in a thrift store, and save the cost of this $250 investment.
The LAST stylus cleaner is probably worth considering. The advantage of the Magic Eraser approach is that the Magic Eraser is cheap. LAST also makes record cleaners that might be an attractive "get me started" option.
I should have added some comment about using some sort of water that's more pure than tap water. Some people do use just running water from the tap, but it does seem logical that some sort of purer water would be better.
Overall, I think it's a good idea to plan to get a record cleaning system in from the start. It's not necessarily critical for new records, or records that are known to be in good condition. But it is important for used records. And a big advantage of analog is buying used records. At $10 per CD (or CD equivalent iTunes download), you can buy 26 records at $1 each in a thrift store, and save the cost of this $250 investment.
The LAST stylus cleaner is probably worth considering. The advantage of the Magic Eraser approach is that the Magic Eraser is cheap. LAST also makes record cleaners that might be an attractive "get me started" option.