not to sound cocky or rude buddy, but I'm the one who started the thread and your getting the questions misunderstood. I'm asking for suggestions on FADER VOLUME not the other way around. If you read my post I said for an example (digi gain is set to 12'oclock) what would you RECORD on the SOFTWARE faders???
Actually, guitar guy was taking you down the right track, Louie. Much of what the different folks have been saying here has been correct in their own ways; it's all pieces of the grand puzzle called "gain structure", and they all should be considered together.
To specifically answer your question, the method I (and many others) recommend is to record with your software faders at unity gain (the point labeled "0" where there is no gain or cut to the signal.) The same would be true of any input trim control on the software. Here's the deal:
The key here is the signal level going through your A/D converters into the computer. If you're running a typical computer interface like an mBox that contains your mic/line inputs and converters in the same box, then the level control that's crucial is the channel input level on that box. You set your levels there, and leave the levels in your software at unity gain, and you can then use your software meters for monitoring the proper level through your interface.
What levels should they be? You need to look up the specs on your interface for maximum input level (or similar wording). Take that number, subtract 4, and put a minus sign in front of it, and that will tell you the *average* (not peak) reading that you should be seeing on your meters. Adjust the input level on the interface (NOT in your software) to get a meter reading that looks something like that.
If you can't find that spec in your spec list, then as was mentioned earlier if you set that knob so that your meter is averaging somewhere around -18dBFS or so (give or take a couple of dB), you'll probably be close enough to see downtown. Of course, you don't want to clip at this point, so keep it below peak clipping no matter what your average signal is riding at. If you have to drop your average even lower than -18 to keep the peaks from clipping that's fine. But don't bother raising it if your peaks fall well below clipping, just to bring you peaks up. That does you no good and only will make mixing more difficult later on.
G.