[DJ Frisat]

Oh --- and, when recording, take care not to have the level so high as to introduce distortion. You're better off reducing the record level a bit, and then using the "Normalize" function of your wave editor to boost the amplitude to the maximum level without causing distortion...

[steve-b]

You're better off reducing the record level a bit, and then using the "Normalize" function of your wave editor to boost the amplitude to the maximum level without causing distortion.

Yes, as long as it's not too low (e.g. if your signal peaks at only 12.5%, then you're effectively getting only 13bits of signal in a 16-bit recording).

Shoot for something in the 25%-50% peak range, which gives you most of the available resolution and leaves a safety margin against clipping (going over 100%).