Gain staging is the process of setting the right signal level at every point in the audio chain — from the microphone preamp through the audio interface to the digital recording. The goal: maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (the recording is loud enough to mask the equipment's noise floor) without clipping (the signal exceeding the maximum level and distorting).
For recording, the practical rule: aim for peaks around −12 to −6 dBFS (decibels relative to full scale) in your DAW while recording at 24-bit. This leaves headroom for unexpected loud moments and avoids the harsh distortion of digital clipping. Recording too quietly means the noise floor becomes audible when you boost the level later.
Poor gain staging is the most common cause of noisy home recordings. Budget audio interfaces get noisy at maximum gain — if you find yourself turning the preamp knob all the way up, you need either a more sensitive microphone, a quieter interface, or an inline preamp like the Cloudlifter CL-1.