Can gear go bad?

[cortexx]

Sounds like a gain staging problem or, careful here, there's a chance you are singing into the wrong side of the mic. We've all done it once... well YOU"VE all done it once....

As i was reading this i though you were going to say singing into the wrong END of the Mic

 

[TexRoadkill]

I'm voting for "user error."

I guess if you live in the South humidity could be a factor but not very likely.

 

[tc4b]

I would eliminate everything from the chain I could. If you need the pre then test it first with another mic/instrument. Then just add components one at a time (with factory or "neutral" settings) and check for suck/not suck. I'm guessing it's user error with something in your chain, in which case building your rack again from the ground up should help. As someone who sometimes goes weeks without recording, I've found this very useful. I think my studio is haunted and that the ghosts appear in my off time to fuck up my settings.