I am sorry for asking such basic questions but really want to start of learning correctly and a little confused.

My audio has not been great with my XH-A1, I would adjust it where i thought it was right but audio would be distorted at times and I would have to use the audio from on camera mics from second camera for some of the footage.

I purchased a SD 302 and love the mixer, but when everything set to defaults I am questioning the volume. The quality is GREAT best I have had but in Premier Pro CS3 The mixer shows between -30 and -16 is this acceptable.

I have the pods turned all the way up on the XH-A1 and on the mixer, the led's are just below hitting any reds?

Again the quality is 10X better, just concerned about the volume.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Check to see if the attenuation on your XHA1 is turned off or on... that'll make a difference with the volume. Ultimately, as long as you're able to get an acceptable final audio level while still maintaining quality and not seeing distortion, you'll be okay. What mics are you using?

The XH-A1, sadly, is said to be hobbled with non-standard inputs, meaning you have to turn the gain all the way up on the camera to get something resembling a decent level. Personally, I'd ditch this camera over this issue, but others seem to be finding a way to live with it.

Check these posts:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-xh-series-hdv-camcorders/118782-can-canon-xh-a1-accept-line-mixer.html

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/all-things-audio/109425-canon-hx-a1-line-mic-answer.html

For starters, make sure your outputs on the mixer are set to full line level, send the camera a full-scale tone (not regular tone), and then adjust the pots on the camera as high as you need so the level is either just clipping, or just under clipping on the camera's meter. Then I'd set the limiter on the 302 to 16 or 18 and try to keep your levels constantly at or higher than 0 on the mixer's meter. Negative 30 or even -16 on the mixer is way, way too low.

My mics are the following

Sennheiser ME66 Shotgun Mic, Sennheiser ME66 capsule. Evolution G2 Series Lav mics.

I believe the attenuation is off, I thought this made for a cleaner sound.

Attenuation where? On the camera? Yes, definitely off.