Usually money first is spent on a good audio interface rather that immediately going after Software adds. It sounds like you have a couple dollars.......the probably universal recommendation is to get a quality audio interface that meets your needs. That itself will likely solve your first issues and the software adds are great too.

You'll likely have more good questions as this progresses.

You're on the right track! It sounds like you're on top of things.

If you haven't already, get intimate with your internal computer mixer...it may be that your DAW output is going through a channel that is set to a low level
 

shmuelyosef
If you haven't already, get intimate with your internal computer mixer...it may be that your DAW output is going through a channel that is set to a low level

+1. Also is your DAW running through a different path? Some people use their internal hardware chip to run Windows sounds and browser stuff, but their actual audio interface for DAW work. Even the internal hardware has a little applet I'm sure to check levels. 

You can't .. you need an audio interface period.. your software is looking for an audio interface .. if you use the built in audio interface. I promise you that you will be disappointed.. find you and audio interface that is Asio compliant , it will make your life so much easier.. look for something that records at a minimum 24 bit.. there are plenty to choose from. Check out cakewalk suggested audio interfaces

I just published an article on my blog about this:
 
http://neelmodi.com/gain-staging-or-why-you-should-record-quietly/
 
Basically, yeah, you can't be working at the same level as mastered stuff.