Linda Hayes

the ALC thing is almost certainly your problem, or at least a big part of it. if its creeping over the recommended range youre basically letting the radio clip the audio before it even gets modulated properly and it just sounds like mush on the other end. back your mic gain down until the ALC is sitting comfortably in the middle of the zone when youre talking at a normal conversational level, not when youre shouting into it. a lot of people set gain while saying a loud test word and then wonder why it sounds bad in normal conversation.
also the PR-40 is a large diaphragm condenser style dynamic and it picks up a TON of low end if youre close to it, like within 4-5 inches youre going to get serious proximity effect. try pulling back to maybe 6-8 inches and see if the muddy bass goes away on its own before you touch the EQ. the 7300 TX equalizer can clean things up but its easier to start with a decent signal and tweak from there rather than trying to EQ your way out of bad mic technique

Gpredict controls rigs and rotors using Hamlib - this is key for modern transceivers. The radio and antenna rotator control for autonomous tracking works flawlessly with my IC-9700 once properly configured. Much more flexible than proprietary solutions.

not a basic question at all, its actually kind of a mess when you first look at it lol. ok so the short version: LoTW is run by ARRL and is what you absolutely need if you want credit toward DXCC or WAS through ARRL. eQSL is a completely separate system, its fine and a lot of people use it, but ARRL doesnt accept eQSL confirmations for their major awards. so if DXCC is on your radar eventually, focus on getting LoTW sorted first.
for paper cards through the bureau — yes you need to be signed up as an ARRL member to use the incoming bureau, which it sounds like you already are. you just go to the ARRL website and register your callsign with the bureau. when cards come in for you they hold them and send them in batches a few times a year. to send outgoing cards through the bureau you buy some cards from a printer (or design your own, lots of people do), fill them out and mail them to the outgoing bureau for your district.
honestly for everyday contacts these days most people just do LoTW and call it done. but some ops — especially older guys or DX stations — really appreciate a physical card, so its worth having some made eventually. not urgent though, get the digital stuff working first.

I use both systems - they each have different user bases. LOTW QSLs actually count towards ARRL sanctioned awards, such as DXCC and WAS, while eQSL.cc has its own awards system. Start with LoTW for credibility, add eQSL later for volume.

yeah the UDP thing between WSJT-X and N1MM has gotten a lot better, at least in my experience. i run them side by side during ARRL DX and the FT8 QSOs come through into N1MM pretty reliably now. you just have to make sure the multicast address and port match up in both configs, i think its 224.0.0.1 port 2237 by default but double check that. the main gotcha i ran into was N1MM wasnt accepting the packets because the contest template i had loaded didnt have digital modes enabled, took me like an hour to figure that out.
the Log4OM award tracking thing is real though, i still keep it around just for that. i basically treat N1MM as my operating log and then do a bulk ADIF export after a contest and merge it into Log4OM. little clunky but it works and i havent lost a QSO yet doing it that way.

welcome to one of the most confusing parts of the hobby honestly, you're not alone in being puzzled by this. so the short version is — you dont need all three, but each one has a different purpose and different people care about different ones.
LoTW (Logbook of The World) is run by the ARRL and it's what you need if you're chasing awards like DXCC or WAS. it is free to use but yeah the setup is a little annoying because you have to get a certificate mailed to you and then install it. worth doing though especially once you get more active on HF. eQSL is also free and a lot easier to set up, some people love it, but its not accepted for official ARRL awards so keep that in mind.
paper cards are kind of a tradition thing. a lot of DX stations and older ops still really love getting physical cards and some awards specifically require the paper version. they're not strictly necessary when youre starting out but honestly once you get a nice design made up it's kind of fun to send them. i use all three personally but i wouldnt stress about it right away. get LoTW set up first since thats the most useful for awards long term.

yeah the UDP thing between WSJT-X and N1MM has gotten a lot better, at least in my experience. i run them side by side during ARRL DX and the FT8 QSOs come through into N1MM pretty reliably now. you just have to make sure the multicast address and port match up in both configs, i think its 224.0.0.1 port 2237 by default but double check that. the main gotcha i ran into was N1MM wasnt accepting the packets because the contest template i had loaded didnt have digital modes enabled, took me like an hour to figure that out.
the Log4OM award tracking thing is real though, i still keep it around just for that. i basically treat N1MM as my operating log and then do a bulk ADIF export after a contest and merge it into Log4OM. little clunky but it works and i havent lost a QSO yet doing it that way.