[DVDdoug]

have to turn the gain up all the way to hear it through speakers and or headphones.

What are you recording?

Are you speaking/singing loudly directly into the mic? Or, is the mic directly in front of a loud guitar amp? Or, are you trying to record average/quiet sounds from across the room?

If it's a directional "side address" studio mic, are you speaking/singing into the front side?

It's a studio/stage mic with an XLR connector, right? Not a "computer mic"?

Oh... If you're using a laptop, make sure you're not accidently recording from the computer's built-in mic.

Then it usually spikes.

It's normal to have high-peaks with a low-average volume (before limiting/compression), especially with "acoustic" sounds. (A guitar amp will limit if you drive it hard.)

And adds ambient sound, too.

Of course! The mic picks-up whatever sound hits it. It's picking-up whatever your ears are hearing, except your brain tends to filter-out noise and you may not notice it "live" unless you listen for it. If you've ever used a video recorder you've probably noticed a lot of noise when you play back that you didn't notice when recording.

Could it be the soundcard?

No. When you're using the interface your soundcard is not used. (You may be using your soundcard for playback.)