USB microphone volume problem

Hi, I’ve recently tried a usb microphone (SE USB1000A) on 3 different macs, but can’t get the input volume anywhere near as high as it needs to be.

I’ve set the microphone’s input volume to maximum in the sound, system preferences, but the test bar barely registers a sound unless you sing with the microphone pressed to your mouth. The volume in garageband is therefore unusable, because if you press the mic to your mouth while recording, the quality is terrible (significantly worse than the built in mic).

After altering the settings on a PC I could get a decent volume, but want to use it with a mac. Can anyone help?

I don't at all want to sound like a douche but get your money back for the USB mic and buy a good universal analog mic (such as a Shure SM57). I can't speak for all USB mics but I have yet to use one and have have good results. When it comes to microphones, stick to analog.

Yeah I didn't by a regular microphone because I wanted to use it to record with garageband, and I thought getting a usb mic would be a lot cheaper overall because a regular mic would require a mixer or something to use it on the computer.