Avid Pro Audio Community - Can not record in Pro Tools 8. EXTREMELY low mic playback

Hi.before i get into this all. I run windows 7, have mbox and run pro tools 8. I also use a M-Audio mic (solaris).

I just recently bought pro tools 8 a few day ago. the program is great.But I am having a problem recording my vocals with my mic.It is a condenser mic, requiring Phantom power (which i have turned on). I hook my mic directly to the MBox mini via XLR cable and make sure the gain and all the settings on the mbox itself are correct. Then take all the necessary step to record a track, create a mono track, make sure the inputs are correct, arm the track, and record. Then i record my vocals. when i play them back they are so low you can faintly hear them. There is no type of wave/sound at all on the track itself. as i said before. i tried everything with the gain, all the way up and down. headphone levels are fine. mix knob is dead center. Funny thing is i have a mixer, 8 channel yamaha. when i hook the mic to the mixer, then the mixer to the mbox everything works fine. i can record and everything works. but the big mixer is very unnecessary and i want to hook the mic directly up to the box. ANY IDEAS?!?! i am thinking maybe there are settings on the program itself i am over looking