Does synchronized playback suck or is it just me?

To paint a picture of what I'm working with:
    
- LMS 8.2 server is on a 12-core Xeon with 64 GB ram hardwired into
  the main switch.
- Four RPIs with dedicated DAC
- Two Muse speakers running Squeeze-Esp32 
- Three hardwired Unifi hotspots around the house for full coverage on
  all channels
- Music sourced from Spotify/Tidal/YouTube
- Gigabit fiber internet 
  

For the life of me I cannot get playback to reliably work with all the
speakers synchronized up.  It'll work fine for up to a day but then go
thru rashes of constant pausing/skipping or just flat out stopping in
the middle of a playlist at the end of a song.

Prior to this I ran a mopidy/snapcast setup and had zero issues with
playback.  LMS has the superior interface and multi-source controls but
without reliable group playback it's all going to go in the trash very
soon.

Things I've tried already:
    
- Downgraded from 8.3 nightly to 8.2
- Configured streaming to proxy thru the main server
- Tried with and without group speaker plugin
- Tried using an AirPlay source without improvement
  

If anybody could give me tips on what to try before I just spend the
money on Roon or go back to snapcast that would be greatly appreciated.


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