need help for the best quality

hey guys, i’ve been using audacity for a couple years now to record my music. i’ve gone through a couple different mics, one was a headset that obviously wouldn’t produce good quality. but the one i have now is a Samson C01U microphone. I record from my room, right infront of my computer, and I have a pop filter. But I just don’t feel like I’m getting 100 percent quality out of it. does anybody have any recommendations? i’m only recording vocals, but it seems like anything that’s the slightest bit “too loud” sounds very faulty and like i’m YELLING into the microphone, when I’m really just being louder. is there any setting I can change? any recording tips that I could get? or even a recommendation on a new microphone that i could possibly buy? i’m looking to try and make my music more professional for my mixtapes / albums that i want to make soon, and my current set up doesn’t seem to be working too well for the professional feel.

edit: also wanted to include that when i record there seems to be a limit on the loudness, like it’s ment to be louder but it just cuts off.

Can you post a bit of the work? “One two three” at normal volume and “ONE TWO THREE” at what you consider distorted higher volume.

In Audacity 1.3, Tracks > Stereo Track to Mono (if it’s not already mono). Then Export as FLAC.

If you’re not in Audacity 1.3, you should be.

Koz