V-studio stuff

Are the sensitivity knobs on the front of the unit basically "gain" knobs more or less and what is the best way to use them?
 
I read something in the manual about you can't use mics with 1/4 cable tips. Do they just mean that for the front inputs or the whole device? That would be kinda weird if you can't use them at all, since so many mics out there use basic 1/4 cable tips, rather than XLR.
 
I managed to actually record some audio into through the VS-100 using VStudio software, but when looking at the unit-I saw signal coming into the unit in the 1st display area and went through some steps inthe manual on recording, arming track, etc.. but I didn't see the track view pop up in the device display box>I hit display 2x and nothing-only blank or going back to the signal level view... But it's supposed to show you something like maybe effects or say you have Boost-11 going on a track, etc.. How do I bring that view up? I ended up arming the track in the software rather than going through the other steps-like using the track view (on the unit display screen) and doing whatever else it said. So you can circumvent it by usign the software, but still-I want to know what I am doing by being able to arm the track or record manually, but using the buttons ON the device rather than just the software...

I figured they were pretty much gain knobs by moving them around and seeing it would obviously increase your waveforms-boost them, add more gain...

I like the unit. haven't tried to figure out all the stuff on using it like a PA system, etc.. taking it to gigs, but I will someday maybe when I play at a local starbucks... There are some Youtube videos that are useful out there, but the only thing is they are not real in-depth and detailed(by cakewalk)...

I'll try to see if I can access the track area. Like when i hit display 2x it goes to show a track display and whatever else in there, but it just wasn't showing anything going on besides that.

To set up the vs100 as control device-is it simply selecting vs100 as ASIO, etc.. or are you talking about something else like ACT stuff? Which I am also wondering how to do-like I saw one option in the tools that said "learn ACT." Not sure what it does exactly. I do want to be able to use the vs100 in conjunction with the software yes-so what do I need to do to activate the ACT stuff?

Thanks man! :)

Also, so you Can use like a standard dynamic mic with 1/4 tip on the back like 3,4,5,6,7 ot 8 inputs? Or not at all? I just want to make sure I am clear on this so I don't screw up or ruin the unit by trying to use some mic with 1'4 tip.

If you want to use ACT I found it best to stick to te preset functions, like if you select a compressor plug in or something , a few of the VS control buttons will be pre assigned to some functions such as "ratio" etc, similar will happen if you choose a reverb plug in, buttons are assigned to "room size" etc.
Good luck !