Hi, I just got my first Cubase software and I need help configuring it. I've been trying for about 20 hours and I'm going nuts. I have a few questions.

My mic volume is barely audible and yet when I record the playback is so loud it is cracking and popping, how do I manage this?

When I turn on Monitor there is a delay and I can't figure out how to manage that either.

Also, I noticed the latency is 600 or more and I know that's way over, how do I lower this?