I experienced several times the issue that my recorded audio exceeded the max possible level and got saturated and distorted. So for doing a recording first time with a given setup, I could use a max numerical level meter that is reset only on demand. When/after the first test recordig, you would see instantly if youran into limitation (0dB, could be marked with red as a color as well) or how many dB headroom you still have got.
As for the calibration: that is targeted to the microphones. Mics like Blue Yeti and MXL and probably most others feature an analog gain wheel, once you change it, it is virtually impossible to get it back to the gain value you had without any additional tools. DAW could provide such a tool so that you can save a given setting within the program and "calibrate" back when you resume recording later.
I'm just not sure where/how the reference signal can come from, the best, but still very unperfect approach I can imagine would be a sine wave (or noise) that DAW emits in calibration mode which is played back through headphones that you somehow clip on your microphone (oh well..).
You could then change the mic's gain until DAW reports match to its stored setting.
Best regards, Kana