In my ongoing efforts of being a student of the Audio Engineering experience, I frequently find myself tweaking different areas of my gain structure. One aspect in particular has me a bit confused, so any advice or enlightenment that someone can throw my way would be greatly appreciated.

First, a little background:
The components of my signal chain are very straight forward..

All of my mixes have level issues. I'm not looking for "industry standard" volume, or would be foolish enough to even believe I have the knowledge or equipment to achieve it. That said, my stuff is pretty weak.

Example: http://www.switchrocks.com/Songs/DreamSequence.mp3

Hello all,
I've heard people mention gain staging as being a very important step in setting up a recording chain. Can someone give me a rundown of what & why?

Howdy all,