I'm having a lot of trouble getting enough gain out of my goldtone ABS system during live performance. I don't know anything about preamps, DI's, line level this and that. Usually, when we're playing live, I need an XLR cord to plug in to the board. This means I'm running a 1/4" cord from my ABS mic through the little Goldtone preamp, then through a DI box provided by the venue, which is basically acting as an 1/4" to XLR adapter so I can plug into the board.
According to what I've read, DI's are used to lower the impedance from a high level signal like a pickup, and isn't really needed for a mic level signal. Is this correct? If that's the case, is the DI box dampening the signal coming from my mic? And if so, would I be getting a stronger signal into the board if I wasn't running through a DI?