Very Low Mic Monitoring In Headphones

When I have software monitoring turned on I can barely hear myself in the headphones. I have to turn the output almost 100 percent up to hear my voice. When I do that, The instrumental I am recording over is blasting no matter how much I turn it down. The Mic gain is at about 30 percent... and if I turn it up anymore I almost always clip. The headphones are not the issue. I just want to hear myself at a loud enough level over the instrumental without blasting it at full volume.