Newbie here... Need help setting up please...

[stesh]

Hi everyone. New to the game here.

I decided to start recording vocals since everyone in my family is musically talented, except me . But hopefully i can get my problem figured out. I'm currently using a Macbook 13 inch, 2.4 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo etc, and the program i'm using is Garageband. I spent about $300 on my basic set up off craigslist last week:
- Rode NT1000 Condenser Mic
- Presonus Firebox Audio Recording Interface via firewire
- Monster Audio cable
- Mic stand
- Pop filter
- Shock Mount

So the problem I'm having is low input. I can see some input coming in through the system preferences, but i cant here anything without possibly blowing my speakers out. I cant tell whether it's the mic or the audio interface. Am i missing anything?? I'm using the phantom power, and played around with the mixer and also added +12dB using the Firebox Control Panel. I searched through the internet leaving with no answer.

Sorry for the long post everyone. Again, this is my first time and thanks for your patience. Any comments or solutions would be appreciated.


THANKS

 

[LevelSongD]

I'm no expert, nor do I work on Macs, but I'm assuming you've got a consumer sound card in there, right? Make sure your input is coming from the audio interface and not your sound card, which also has a mic input, and just to be safe, look at your sound card's control panel (if it has one) and check the levels there.

 

[Tuneful]

This is nearly always an issue of not having every single setting in every single nook and cranny (and sometimes there's too damned many of those nooks!) all set to proper levels.
A setting might be muted, or simply not enabled.
You really need to dig into that and make absolutely sure you've got everything covered.