Brand New Vinyl Static and Pops

Dirt on stylus. Drop gently up and down onto isopropyl alcohol soaked spot on Mr. Muscle Magic Eraser a few times.

Just checked it and the stylus look to be intact.

Needle seems to be picking up debris from somewhere. When I cleaned the stylus without the cleaning solution the vinyl sounds 95% better.  Still some pops on Sketches in Spain, but other than that much better.  

Not perfect, but much better.

Still want to try the red ortofon.

I'm pretty sure the phono is on the Technics.

The question was not whether the stylus was intact but whether the body of the cartridge is contacting the surface of the LP. If you can see debris on the tip of the stylus (probably shouldn't call it a needle), then your LP is grossly dirty OR you've got a very dusty environment maybe augmented by static charge. But first, does the body of the cartridge contact the LP at any time in the course of play?

Thanks lew.

The answer to that question is no.