Recording advice regading input levels...

[AlexHall74]

OK, I just got my rig hooked up and I/O is working.

Now for a silly question from a music hack from Florida.

My rig: PIV PC 1 GB RAM, M-Audio 2496, Behringer UB-1204, Virus KC, Tracktion2 = sequencer, etc..

When recording in the digital domain I know that 0 dB is the max signal one can record without clipping.

My question is, should I be trying to get as close to 0 dB as possible or just stay under it?

I am looking at the input levels when playing my Virus while getting ready to record and the damn levels jump around alot (depending on the patch and the pressure applied to the keys, etc).

The L and R of the signal differ greatly as well, so if one is damn close to 0 dB, the other might be down at -30 dB.

Does anyone have any quick rules of thumb to help me straighten this out in my head?

Thanks in advance for any insight offered.

-Alex