Quick Review: FiiO LC 4.4 Balanced Cable

Every 4.4 balanced cable I’d bought for my headphones before this one died on me — either the contact went bad or it just plain wouldn’t make a sound. So this time, with a sale going on at Taobao, I grabbed two cables from FiiO. MSRP was 198 each, sale price 168 each, and the two stacked with a spend-more-save-more discount, so I got them for 295 total.

And even though I ordered the 4-strand version, one of the two that arrived was a 6-strand. No idea if that’s a freebie or they just ran out of 4-strand stock and sent me the pricier one. I checked and FiiO doesn’t actually sell a 6-strand, so it might be them clearing inventory — either way I figure I came out ahead.

Quick impressions:

• Build quality is solid, way sturdier than those handmade cables
• Clear left/right color coding — blue for left, red for right
• The ear hooks are reinforced and sit nice and secure
• Sound-wise, honestly I don’t care anymore. Couldn’t hear a difference. My old cable was already a 6-strand 4.4 handmade one, so swapping to this probably wouldn’t change anything anyway

Overall this was a good haul. My take is that headphone cables make a barely-perceptible difference, and if you’re going to buy one, a manufacturer’s finished cable like FiiO’s beats some no-name “handmade” job. Plus they threw in a 6-strand for free, so hey, I’ll shill for them a bit.