How to get mic level loud enough

Question

This is my first attempt at a "complete" iMovie...though have been fooling around with video and stills to practice.
I was thinking about subtitles to make my video make sense, but then wanted to try narration instead. I got out my headset, usb Cyber Acoustics, and spoke into the mic to help set the levels in the Preferences area. The sound bars showed up, but really couldn't get them high enough. And yep, when I recorded some narration lines, the levels were not nearly high enough. I upped the level by raising the levels bar within the narration clip, and that helped some, but not enough. What options do I have? This is the kind of G4 that does not have a regular mic plug, has to be usb. I got this machine recently, so am rather new to the mac as well.
Also, any way to monitor the video's soundtrack while I record narration. I was planning on blending with the cadence of the music and surf, but now can't do that. I tried both same headset, and then separate headset (via ext speakers)...Output seemed to be set correctly for that, but no sound.
Powermac G4   Mac OS X (10.4.10)   1.5 gB sdram

Answer 1

Welcome to iMovie Discussions.
With any USB input device, you have to go to System Preferences (..are those the Preferences you meant?..) and then 'Sound', and click on the 'Input' tab, make sure that you've chosen the correct device (..e.g; the USB device..) and then drag the horizontal slider till it shows plenty of audio coming in.
(..You HAD clicked on the 'Input' tab - for the mic - not the 'Output' tab - for the headphones - hadn't you? ..Just checking..)
I don't know the Cyber Acoustics headset, but all other USB input devices I've tried DO deliver a good strong audio input. (E.g; the teeny plug-in USB plug for the similar Philips headset can be used with any other mic and 'phones for a really good volume level.)
"..What options do I have?.." ..You may be able to export the narration to GarageBand, and increase the levels there (..I hardly use GarageBand, so I'm not too familiar with it..) and you can certainly do the same - though it's a bit more complex - by exporting it and then using the free 'Audacity' (click on that blue link) or similar software to increase its volume.
"..any way to monitor the video's soundtrack while I record narration.." ..Yes; export the edited movie back to tape, and watch the tape playing in the camcorder while speaking your narration.
OR, better still, put a blank tape in the camcorder, watch your edited movie in iMovie and simultaneously speak your narration into the camcorder, with the camcorder's built-in mic. That guarantees the correct audio level.
Then import that new recording into iMovie, 'Extract' the audio into one of the audio tracks, delete all the video which you just imported, and drag the audio back to the start of your movie: result ..perfect narration, timed exactly to fit the movie!