Yes that is exactly the problem. Turn down the bass boost all the way as it will cause the amp to run out of power very fast. The gain should be in proportion to the music. Pretty standard is to turn the deck up to 3/4 then adjust the bass to where you want it. Turning the gain up will not make it louder. It will change when the amplifier puts out its full power. With it all the way up your probalby maxing out the amp at less then half vol and then it goes into clipping while you still ask for it to go louder. This will cause it to sound horrible as well as potentially cause damage.