After more testing, I’ve come to realize the problem is with Playback through my bluetooth headphones. The recording is fine. and it plays fine through the bluetooth headphones after exporting as an Mp3.
This topic neatly sums up my current problem, though it seems this user’s challenge was never resolved. I may just need to use wired headphones.
https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/random-crackling-only-through-bluetooth-headsets/53018/1
Thanks.