SAA7220 running hot?

[Rotellian]

Is it usual for the 7220 and 1541a dac chip to run quite hot? Ive just undone the non-oversampling mod in my cd player with this chipset and have noticed that both appear to be quite hot to the touch on top. The player makes music jsut fine with no distortion so everything appears to be working OK. Is this normal? Cheers

 

[jean-paul]

Yes, bipolar technology has higher power consumption than the more modern CMOS technology.

There are people that glue coolers on them with a connection to ground. Worth a try ?

 

[Rotellian]

OK many thanks, guesi d just never noticed before

 

[alean]

To receive the best sound in addition it is necessary to warm up interiors of the device, including microcircuits

 

[Richard C]

An easy mod for this chipset is to make simple L or U-shaped heatsinks out of copper sheet, glue to the top of each chip and connect to ground. The effect of the screening on sound quality is significant and the cooler running will improve reliability and linearity.