home studio setup help

[nater41]

here's my setup:

2 acoustic guitars (with preamp eq'd pickups)
2 dynamic mics (i know...i should be using condensers!)
a Behringer 8-input mixer (w/ outs [L and R])
an Echo Mia soundcard (2 analog ins/2 analog outs/1 digital in/1 digital out)
2 passive speaker cabs (10" and 12")
1 powered speaker (12") with 2 inputs and 1 out
CoolEdit 2000 w/ the multitrack plugin

right now, i'm running my 2 guitars into the 2-input powered speaker and running the out into the mixer. both mics go into the mixer (the mixer has built-in mic preamps) and running the mixer's LR outputs to my soundcard's analog inputs 1 & 2. then, i'm running the 2 analog outs from the card to my 2 passive speakers.

here are the problems i'm having:
1.) my levels look fine coming out of the mixer (from 0 - 3 db) and i can see that the card is picking up about that level, but i'm not getting a lot of sound out of my 2 passive speakers (out from the card). i noticed just playing an MP3 through Windows MediaPlayer with all levels cranked is not driving the 2 passive speakers to enough to produce some high levels, either.

is there a problem with my setup? anymore equipment i should buy? how can i reconfigure to get the best output?

 

[nater41]

i think i need my out from the card to go into an amp...not passive speakers, right?

 

[flapo1]

Right, an amp or active monitors (instead of just speakers), as they will give you better results.

 

[nater41]

cool. generally speaking, does the output from a mixer need to go to active monitors as well?

thanks for the help.