Help with guitar recording direct to DI

[loki01]

Hi guys. I hope this is the right thread to post these questions. I just bought an Mbox 2 and currently using PT 7. I am a newbie with Digi products, so I hope you guys can help me with some of these probelms I've encountered.

1. How can I achieve louder signal in my guitar recording? (Currently I'm using an Epi LP plug direct into DI on input 2) the sound ain't loud and when I increase the 'gain",the headphone vol and "arm" the track, this happened;

2. I can hear "hissing" sound and when I increase the headphone vol and the gain, the noise gets louder.. (does it have to do with grounding/cables/etc?)

What can I do??

(Fyi, the mic XLR inputs are great, no noise, clear signal..good preamps)

Thanks.

[loki01]

hi..i've found out about the hissing sound problem already, the culprit it seems, was my cable. and after changing it with a planet wave cable, the sound is clearer, and louder...anyway, thanks again for reading.