This is probably far under the skill set of the people here, but hopefully you can help me out.
We record a podcast. Usually two people, MXL 990 condenser mics, connected via XLR into our Mackie ProFx12 mixer. Output is going to a Zoom H4N digital recorder, recorder as WAV, then adding music, editing, etc. in a PC audio editing program.
Here's what's bugging me: for both mics, I have to turn the gain up on each channel to almost 100% clockwise (basically almost all the gain it gives me) to get the LEDs on the Main to even slightly show up. Which makes that useless for setting my levels. I tried with the same mics on a Behringer mixer, same results. I've also tried a couple of decent dynamic mics, to see if the mics were the issue, but same results.
The levels on the actual recording (from the Zoom DAT) seem OK, but one reason I use the mixer is for control and to be able to see and adjust my levels. Which I can't do if the Main Level LEDs barely show up, even at 99% gain.
Can someone more knowledgeable than me in these things (anyone here,LOL!) help me figure this out?
Thanks!
Jeff