I'm using this as a mic, and the only place that I have problems with it is in audacity, so I'm not sure what the problem is, but I don't imagine it's the mic as it works fine all the other times.
http://bluemic.com/snowball/
I was going to say it could be many things,but if it only happens in Audacity then most probably the latency and buffer settings you have selected in Audacity may not be compatible with your hardwares limits causing dropouts and unwanted noise when pushing multiple tracks.
Either way,I personally would not advise you "tickle the red",recording on a computer is not like analog recording methods where you can occasionally hit the red...as soon as you touch that red in the digital realm you are at 0db and have officially clipped your source leaving zero wiggleroom for fixing later,keep it at somewhere between -3db to -6db(some even use -12db but you need great gear),you can always add postgain later,but there is no way to remove clipping seamlessly without destroying the audio. At the very very least keep it at -1db. I´m sure Cause won´t judge you on your recording method,he just wants to see if you are getting results as far as the singing part goes. If it comes down to it,you can alway remove hiss by applying a filter,but keep in mind that it will slightly dull your highs and transients,even muffling it if you over-do it.
Sorry Cause,I´d love to post and contribute on this thread with a before and after,but there is not a "before this thread" to show,as I am a little beyond this thread as far as singing technique/methodology goes now...
If it helps at all,something I would advise for people in this thread is to see Glenn Hughes vocal solo in the song "Mistreaded",its a great example of a versatile voice,in the single solo he covers belting,head voice,chest voice,soft breathy whispers,a pretty extreme falsetto for a male singer,and in some versions depending on the gig even a scream or too beyond belting,all covering multiple octaves in perfect pitch(depending on the gig),for anyone who wants to sing its something that they should see regardless of what style of music they like,it covers so many popular techniques in such little time.