[Audacity] Improve audio editing features for better usability

Hello, I am finally getting serious about starting a podcast My show will be a solo host storytelling podcast, my setup is about 50% sound dampened just because of the area I’m doing it in. # Budget: could be around $100-150 for a mic, same for any of the others if needed, this is just to give myself a nice setup to practice and use UNTIL I go for a real powerhouse. I’ve been testing out and trying to use a few things, albeit I haven’t used them a lot, but it’s been a few weeks and I would like advice. # My setup: **Laptop, Acer Nitro 5**, I used it for gaming and it was a great device but my storage situation might need to be better and it’s lightly started slowing down since it’s a few years old **Audio editor / recording: Audacity**. Always wanted to use this one, but I’ve found it’s very simplistic, and either I’m inexperienced or preforming small cuts like cutting out mistakes between sentences is a bit lackluster, I did like that it almost perfectly set noise gates and audio levels **Microphone: Maono A04 USB Condenser**. okay, either I’m totally inexperienced or I don’t like this mic. It has high praise and reviews, and I got the entire kit for free from someone, but I had to raise it to almost 48 dec to cut out breath sounds (with pop filter and wind guard) it sounds almost like I’m talking through a tunnel, or a layer or two of padding at times. But when I relisten, I think it’s just not crystal clear quality, the quality seems low. **Headset: Hyperx Cloud ii:** I like this headset, but it’s a headset and I think I want more comfortable headphones that are capable of mic monitoring to hear myself talk. # What I want: Dynamic mic, USB capability, easy to learn before I upgrade to a real powerhouse or something with XLR. Been looking at all kinds of mics, Samson Q2u, Shure sm58, AT ATR2100x, I’ve even heard to go with a fifine, but I’m kind of leaning to something nice in the $100 \~ range Editor: Reaper. Nothing but praise Laptop and headset, no idea. I might not even need to upgrade these but if I need to, I might look for something to upgrade in the future, maybe even switch to Apple? **TL;DR**: Want to upgrade to a dynamic USB mic, new audio interface, potentially new laptop / headphones. $100 range up or down in each category (minus laptop)