Confused about input levels

[OldMan]

I am using audacity to record some sermons with my Vista laptop along with a Xitel Inport USB recording device. The way that I understand the Audacity documentation is not how I am seeing things work. According to the Meter Toolbar documentation: "If the level of the input (recording) source is too high, you can try to lower the input level using the Mixer Toolbar"

I am seeing that the mixer toolbar has no effect on the input meter, only the vista Level properties has a effect on the indicated input meter level. The mixer toolbar does have an effect on what is actually recorded, but it does not affect the input level meter.

So with this the way to properly set the level is to first adjust the level of you input device in vista recording properties until the input meter level never hits 0 dB. And second adjust the recording volume on the mixer toolbar until you get the desired level on your recording. Is this correct?

[steve]

According to the Meter Toolbar documentation: "If the level of the input (recording) source is too high, you can try to lower the input level using the Mixer Toolbar"

That's for when using conventional internal sound cards. With USB devices the important level is the level of the signal before it hits the digital converter/USB chip, which is built into the USB audio device. You should therefore set the recording level in Audacity/your computer settings to maximum, and adjust the recording level either of the USB device (if it has a level control) or adjust the output level of whatever is connected to the USB device.