I have been doing some recording through soundforge for the last couple of days and i have a bit of a problem. When im recording at home I do all the work through my headphones, but in Soundforge i have to keep the master so low that when im mixing the volume is way to low, even with the headphone volume at max. If the master on my mixer is higher then 2 all i get when i listen to the mix is static.

Should i just crank the trim to as low as it can go or is there a better way?

First of all, check if your mixer has a dedicated record output. If you have one, it's preferable to use this for connecting to your soundcard (record out is independent from your master fader, so once you set the right level in your recording program, it stays good).

To set your levels play the loudest part of a record, and then you need to go to the volume properties of your soundcard (easiest way is to doubleclick the little speaker in your system tray). There go in the recording properties (options => properties => recording), and adjust the line in (that's what you have to use) until the loudest part comes as close as possible to 0dB, without actually reaching it (so a max of -0.1 dB is best). This ensures you are using the full range of your signal.

I gotta say, on some very rare occasions (some exotic soundcards), you need to adjust the line in OUTPUT fader (instead of the line in record) of your soundcard to adjust the levels, but most of the time it's the recording fader that does it.

ok i got everything working, thanks for the help