Have you found a better microphone? I'm using a quite cheap headphone and don't have a problem with it so far. From my experience, recording at night, when people are sleeping bring the best sound. You can also make the audio1 silent and record your voice separately then put your audio in audio 2 panel.

My mike should be ok. IT's a new one and it wasn't cheap either It's also USB as the Camtasia guys recommend.

Have you tried on different computer?

A sensitive mic will pick up background noises - kids playing, dog barks, furnace fan... anything you can hear, your mic can hear too. This is why recording studios build rooms that are reasonably soundproof.

The key is to record in a quiet place. Most noise removal software takes out sounds like tape hiss, or 60Hz buzz, but won't remove household noises.

There is a gizmo called a Noise Gate that functions like an automatic on/off switch on the microphone's signal. The goods ones are fast, switching on and off between words and sentences, and doing so in micro-seconds. But they are out of the price range for most people doing podcasts and IM training videos.

:-Don