Does anyone have a Schiit Yggy DAC?

I had one for a month and was nothing special, and it has been replaced by a Khadas Tone Board generic edition with a custom external power supply.

Its supposed to be very warm. The nature of the AD1571 DAC chip is that it runs hot. It is a military/ aerospace use chip. Which means they are capable of extreme duty.  It wasn't even really intended as an audio chip but for some reason they implemented it. This is why they recommend to leave to unit on all time. The chip needs to get to a certain temperature before it thermally stabilizes. Listen to your Yggy cold, you will not like it. Thats why Schiit covered the holes in the top of the cover above the D/A boards because they assumed it would need lots of cooling but the got it backwards, the chips actually needed to run hot so they closed the top holes with a plate. It goes to show how much they knew about the AD1571 chip they were using. 
There are lots mistakes they made that caused many of the complaints others have made. 

almarg

You realize the holes in the top arent actually exposed. They have been blocked off. Seems to me why Schiit recommends leaving the Yggy on is to maintain a minimum temperature inside and the cooling holes were actually allowing too low of temperature. When I listened
to my Yggy cold I couldnt stand it. 

Have had the Yiggy 3 years, now updated 8 months ago. On constantly never gets hot, never! Warm yes I'd say 85 degrees is about right. If this helps.
My cable modem is hotter.

This Schiit Happened book is terrific. It talks about how they got into the business, their research, development and the many issues that had to deal with. It is technical, in places, to better explains their strategy and approach. Their approach on customer support is priceless.  

I am still reading it.  Highly recommended.

If you own the Schiit Yggy, or are thinking of buying the Yggy or anything else, you should read this book:

“Schiit Happened: The Story of the World's Most Improbable Start-Up”. 

I am reading it now and it is excellent.  It tells about marketing strategy and other related audio topics.  

Thanks for all your help and ideas on my hot Schiit Iggy DAC.  It sounds like it is opening up a lot more.  It sounds good.  Schiit assured me that the heat is normal and it is warranted 5 years.

The Bifrost multibit was a cold fish, even the Mimby was a fair bit warmer.

 My Gungnir is moderately warm only, but it is quite sweet.  Speaking of food, I prefer a slightly sweet chili and put sugar in my coffee, so the sweet Gungnir comment could be off base.

Exactly. My Mytek Brooklyn definitely ran hotter.

82F is reasonable temp. for a DAC, I don't see any problem here.

Just measured the temp on the top plate of my Yggdrasil and mine is at 82F at its hottest in a room at 67 degrees. Sits on a shelf in an IKEA Besta unit with about 4 inches above and 3 on a side for breathing space. 

I have no information about the Schiit YGGY DAC running hot and suggest you call Schiit, again, and and ask them.  k4rstar12 reported above that "he owned multiple YGGY's and they were never more than slightly warm to the touch even after being on for many weeks".   I suggest you determine how hot your YGGY is actually getting so you can review its actual temperature with Schiit.

Please note that my Ayre Codex DAC also ran hot.  The Stereophile review reported "My sample of the Codex DAC got hot to the touch—about 108°—after a couple hours.  HiFiPlus reported "Almost – it runs hot to touch like an Ayre amplifier (nothing to worry about here).   Ayre reports the Ayre’s exclusive Diamond output circuit run hot and this is normal and nothing to worry about.   I kept my Ayre Codex DAC on all the time and it was hot when being played and was never a problem.   

@213Runnin, re the AD5791, it can be calculated from the voltage and current specifications shown in the "Power Requirements" section near the bottom of page 4 of its datasheet that each of them consumes something on the order of 125 milliwatts (0.125 watts).  The chip itself may get a bit warm, due to its small size, but of course 125 mw x 4 chips won't make much of a contribution to the temperature rise of the overall component.

Regards,
-- Al 

Schiit DACs tend to this something must be technically wrong with their design.

It’s unwise to make the broad statement above by taking an ’n’ of 1 and applying it to a successful product range that likely has the widest (or one of the widest) numbers of absolute users / units (standalone ’audiophile’ DACs) within the U.S.

The OP needs to measure the temps of his unit and report to Schiit for an exchange / replacement, if it falls outside of operating tolerances.

Al, I’d readily admit that I’m out of my depth quickly with this stuff. I have no idea how warm 35 watts is supposed to get.

The Yggy does also have some expensive chips for the dac conversion, 4 Analog Devices AD5791, which probably get pretty warm.  I just checked, those chips seem to go for about $100 each, or am I missing something?

I do know that I’ve become a big fan of the ladder dac design, and the guys at Schiit really seem to know what they’re doing.

DAC shouldn’t get too warm it’s not amplifier,if
 Schiit DACs tend to this something must be technically wrong with their design.

It’s like I said... I can explain in more clear terms:

the yggy will will be a a few degrees warmer than the ambient temperature of your room 

@213Runnin, thanks for pointing that out.  Based on the photos at the website I would never have suspected that the "holes" don't go all the way through the panel.

Even so, however, I would not expect that 35 or 45 watts going into a component having the size and weight of the Yggy would cause it to be as hot as the OP described.  It would be a different story if it were say a 40 watt light bulb :-)

Regards,
-- Al

A note of clarification on the above idea that the Yggy's top holes are for ventilation.  They are actually not holes at all because they do not go all of the way through.  Same with my Bifrost and now Gungnir.  

There is no ventilation, so the warmth can add up.  

My Modi 2 multi-bit is also a single-cup coffee warmer...

Go to Home Depot (or Amazon) and get an IR thermometer.  Or use a “killawatt” to measure idle power consumption. 

Getting anyone at that company to speak with their customers is
not an easy task. They should have explained the product is a dual
purpose machine. Coffee warmer and sometimes DAC. 
I do credit them for truth in advertising.

The Yggy is spec’d as consuming 35 watts (although a rear panel marking that can be seen in a photo at their website says 45 watts), and measuring 16" x 12" x 3.875" and weighing 25 pounds. 35 (or even 45) watts dissipated in a component of that size and weight should not result in the component getting anywhere close to being as hot as you describe. And the presence of numerous ventilation holes in the Yggy’s top panel further reinforces that conclusion.

Either the power consumption spec is drastically wrong or the unit is defective and what Schiit told you is wrong. Consistent with some of the previous responses I’m inclined to believe the latter.

Regards,
-- Al

What kind of thermometer would get an accurate temp?

Since 'warm' / 'hot' are relative and we may have different sensitivities, can you take a temperature reading at the 'hottest' (to your touch) surfaces? 

In my experience the Yggy runs warm (I left it on continuously) but not hot. I would have been able to keep my fingers on it for a long time.

It has enough room around it. The room is kept about 74 degrees.  The dac runs hot, not warm.

@golferjw how much open space do you have around it?

If your room is hot, Yggy will be hotter than your room 

My Yggdrasil is always.  It is warm to my touch.  Not hot enough to make me want to remove my hand.

something sounds very wrong. i have owned multiple yggy's and they were never more than slightly warm to the touch even after being on for many weeks

No, but I've got a Modi 2 Uber and that little sucker is a firecracker. I do not leave it on all the time.