im pushing the meter(which i am struggling to understand also) only about halfway. yep, dont understand how it is that there are negative Db marked that can be heard. but reading the manual told me to set the gain to where it popped up to just the beginning of the yellow on the digital meter and thats what i did. never realized how complicated this stuff was ha, im definitelhy spending more time just figuring out how to setup than actual recording. after my experience with recording "in the box" resulting in having to learn to manipulate a computer also, i find myself wishing i had spent my hard earned money on analog equipment.