WOW! a lot of responses.
Thanks

I have a proformance belt drive turntable. So all I need is a preamp, and some software? And audacity is good software?

I

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Erm, unless you want to drop some big money, you need to purchase a new USB-compatible turntable. See Posts #5 & #6.

A quick search shows the "proformance" table to be a Sears unit, probably made by Sanyo. Should give adequate results as long as the cartridge/stylus is up to par.

As far as what other stuff to buy, it all depends on what level of audio quality you personally are seeking. If you're looking for state of the art sound, then yes, you'll have to spend more money than just simply buying one of those USB turntables mentioned. But if you just want something that will get the music onto CD and/or your hard drive then what you have will work fine. Like I said, it depends on what you are looking for as far as sound quality, and I can't answer that for you. Yes, it is possible to get state of the art sound from old records that are still in good condition.

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Erich Loepke
2010 Ford Focus
Currently Benz-less

What is your turntable hooked up to right now? It (being the thing your turn table it hooked up to) most likely has some sort of RCA line-level output on it. You can take this and connect it up to your computers line-in. (note: not the microphone in as mic and line level are different) and from there fire up some sound recording software.

My turn table (Technics SL-1500MKII was hooked up to a Kenwood 600 which has preout/postin and tape loops that can be used for recording. These can be fed into the pc for capture.

If your computer doesn't have a line in or you think its sound card is subpar, you can always upgrade it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132013

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One other option is to purchase an audio component CD burner, and record from vinyl through your current audio system, leaving your computer out of the equation completely. Of course, you can subsequently process the recordings on your computer with Audacity if you like, then burn new and improved CDs. If you already have an excellent turntable/cartridge combination, that might be the best bang for your buck. If not (and it seems not), I would opt for the USB turntable purchase. Unless you're a serious audiophile, you won't be disappointed with the result.

$225 example: TEAC CD RECORDER W/ REMOTE

Turntable was hooked up to a Panasonic receiver, but that died a few years ago. Now it is not hooked up to anything.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags