Need tips on audio editing spoken podcast tracks

[steve]

and it goes to my mixer

Which is?
Please aim for too much detail rather than not enough - We can't see what you are doing so you need to tell us.

[JesusJFunk]

Sorry, its a Behringer xenyx502. And i use rca cables to go from it to the usb interface and then to my pc. Ive gotten the same result on multiple usb ports. I also took it to my brothers home and had the same response. My pc's os is windows 7 btw. The other mics i have running to the mixer use xlr to quarter inch cables. I have headphones hooked up to the mixer and i dont hear that hiss on them, only afer playing back anything i've recorded. If theres anything any information i can provide to pinpoint this just let me know. Thanks again!

[steve]

The microphone is probably the weakest part of the system but you should still be able to achieve reasonable sound quality.

• Use a pop shield so as to avoid "popping" on "B" and "P" type sounds.
• Use some sort of microphone stand so as to avoid handling noise.
• Use the only the 3 pin XLR connector on the Xenyx 502 for the microphone.
• Check in the Xenyx 502 for how to correctly set the "Trim" control.
• Adjust the "Level" and "Main Mix" levels so that peak level is a little below 0 dB.
• Adjust the levels in Audacity and the Windows Recording settings so that the peak level in Audacity is around -6 dB (half the track height). The waveform must not touch the top/bottom of the track.