apologies for very n00b question:

I just got a new echo audiofire 2 and a new sennheiser e835 mic: i'm using logic, and trying to record in mono with a plain audio channel... just plugging the mic straight into one of the echo's 'line inputs'

the signal, even when i yell into the mic is really low, with the signal only going bout 5-10% up the bar...

i tried chucking fx onto the channel and it boosts stuff ok, but a fair bit of static then overpowers what i'm recording...

the waves being recorded are non-existent too... you can see a tiny break in the straight line when there's noise, but no big blip like normal sound..

i know that mic preamps HELP with the signal, but are they NECESSARY for any kind of audible mic recordings!?

thanks, friends

(sorry if it's too long, thout i'd try and say all that i can so there's not too many clarification posts needed )
--sorry if it's been asked before too, i searched but couldn't find anything...

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