Using Samson CO1U in cs5.5

Question

Alright so ive been using adobe on and off for two or three years. Recently i used a snowball mic with audacity so i had to download an asio driver no biggie. The snowball wasnt mine and my friend took it back so ive been using the samson co1u with no problems on the recording end. Other than the fact that i have to amplify my voice on any track at least three times to be audible but after doing that and mixing the file down to an mp3 my vocals are always way to quiet to be heard. The only way my voice is audible is if i play it through a laptop or plug in speakers or headphones. WHat is the reason for this? On previous files using the asio driver with the snowball this never happened. WHatever levels the vocals were in the session was the same thing in the mixdown but that isnt the case with the samson. Ive tried reading other forums and using their suggestions such as turning the latency off and down. Some one help  have fiver sounds recorded like this and a mi=ultitude left bbut i want to do them right

Answer 1

I've just been involved in a discussion of USB mics in another forum and I gather the C01U is notorious for having a very low output level.
The best way to fix this (other than buying a different mic) is to raise levels at the time of recording and this is handled by your computer, not Audition.
Assuming you're on Window's (if it's a Mac somebody else will have to help) open your audio control panel (right click on the little speaker icon on the lower right of your screen) then select Record Devices.  Double click on your Samson mic.  In the control panel that comes up, select the "Levels" tab and raise the level.  With a low output mic like the Samson, you might need to  move the "Microphone Boost" slider as well.  Experiment until the average level coming from your voice is around -12 with peaks at -6 or so.
Why your mixes are not the same level as you see when mixing I can't be sure without knowing how you're raising the levels in the first place--Audition can do this lots of different ways.  However, I suspect this might become a non-problem if you get the recorded levels right in the first place.