Air & Devialet memory (technical)

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Perhaps you're right. It's just that sending data down a network is what they're designed to do, but Devialet in their wisdom have decided to use their own mechanism and in doing so have chosen very small data packets in a time critical situation with a small buffer.

I don't understand the distinction you're trying to make.  It is just data being sent across the network, independent of the packet size and whether it comes from Devialet AIR or not.

The packets AIR sends (at least as I saw when streaming 16/44) are about 1000 bytes.  The largest possible packet on a 10/100 wired Ethernet can carry 1500 bytes of payload.  So to call them "very small" seems to me to be just exaggerating for effect.

As Antoine has pointed out to correct my earlier post, the buffer in the Devialet is in fact 32 MB.  That's enough to buffer about 30 seconds of raw PCM 24/192 stereo audio samples, which should be far more than is needed to cope with the typical delays that might be experienced in a reasonably-working home network.

To my mind, that just dramatically increases the chances of problems. If there are these alleged timing bugs within core parts of osx and windows causing problems, using larger data packets would surely delay their onset?

As I understand it, the timing bugs that are being discussed are to do with synchronising clocks so that the amplifier and AIR running on the host computer stay in synch over a long period of time.  That problem is largely if not completely independent of the network transport.  In fact you could just as well argue that using larger packets would if anything be a worse approach for transmission of real-time data.

I'm just clutching at straws. But what I do know is it doesn't work! Certainly not to a level I'd expect to accompany a £6,000 amp/dac. I might be more understanding if the product had only been released a few weeks ago, but....

The fact that AIR doesn't work well in your system shouldn't be generalised.  AIR does work well enough for a reasonable proportion of users.  No, it is not perfect, and Devialet do need to fix some bugs, but the basic approach to transferring data across the network seems sound to me.