diff --git a/packages/cultnet-rs/src/media_fec.rs b/packages/cultnet-rs/src/media_fec.rs
index ec1b1230..38525db5 100644
--- a/packages/cultnet-rs/src/media_fec.rs
+++ b/packages/cultnet-rs/src/media_fec.rs
@@ -337,11 +337,25 @@ fn encoding_rows(k: usize, rows: impl Iterator<Item = usize>) -> Vec<Vec<u8>> {
 }
 
 /// Byte `j` of the result is the sum over `i` of `coefficients[i] * shards[i][j]`.
+///
+/// The hot loop of both encode and recovery: each coefficient's 256 products
+/// are tabulated once, so a shard byte costs one lookup and one XOR.
 fn combine(coefficients: &[u8], shards: &[&[u8]], shard_bytes: usize) -> Vec<u8> {
     let mut out = vec![0_u8; shard_bytes];
     for (&coefficient, shard) in coefficients.iter().zip(shards) {
-        for (byte, &input) in out.iter_mut().zip(shard.iter()) {
-            *byte ^= gf_mul(coefficient, input);
+        match coefficient {
+            0 => {}
+            1 => {
+                for (byte, &input) in out.iter_mut().zip(shard.iter()) {
+                    *byte ^= input;
+                }
+            }
+            _ => {
+                let products: [u8; 256] = std::array::from_fn(|x| gf_mul(coefficient, x as u8));
+                for (byte, &input) in out.iter_mut().zip(shard.iter()) {
+                    *byte ^= products[usize::from(input)];
+                }
+            }
         }
     }
     out
diff --git a/packages/cultnet-rs/tests/media_fec_bench.rs b/packages/cultnet-rs/tests/media_fec_bench.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..40c9de78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cultnet-rs/tests/media_fec_bench.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+//! Timings for the media FEC codec, without a bench framework.
+//!
+//! Ignored by default; run in release, where the numbers mean something:
+//!
+//! ```text
+//! cargo test --release --test media_fec_bench -- --ignored --nocapture
+//! ```
+//!
+//! Each line is nanoseconds per call through the public surface, so record
+//! validation and cloning are included. The geometries are the ones the codec
+//! meets: standard audio, the widest standard video block at a datagram, and
+//! the worst recovery the policy admits (255 + 1).
+
+use std::hint::black_box;
+use std::time::Instant;
+
+use cultnet_rs::{
+    GAMECULT_MEDIA_MAX_WIRE_BYTES, GameCultMediaAudioPacketRecord, MediaFecPolicy,
+    MediaWireProvenance, protect_audio_block, recover_audio_block,
+};
+
+fn provenance() -> MediaWireProvenance<'static> {
+    MediaWireProvenance {
+        stored_at: "unix:1700000000000",
+        runtime_id: "bench",
+        role: "bench.media",
+        producer: "bench",
+    }
+}
+
+fn packets(k: usize, len: usize) -> Vec<GameCultMediaAudioPacketRecord> {
+    let mut state = 0x2545_f491_u32;
+    (0..k as u64)
+        .map(|index| GameCultMediaAudioPacketRecord {
+            stream_id: "bench".to_string(),
+            session_id: "bench".to_string(),
+            packet_id: index,
+            codec: "opus".to_string(),
+            pts_ticks: 960 * index as i64,
+            duration_ticks: 960,
+            timebase_num: 1,
+            timebase_den: 48_000,
+            deadline_ticks: 960 * index as i64 + 5_000,
+            payload: (0..len)
+                .map(|_| {
+                    state ^= state << 13;
+                    state ^= state >> 17;
+                    state ^= state << 5;
+                    state as u8
+                })
+                .collect(),
+        })
+        .collect()
+}
+
+/// Mean nanoseconds per call over at least `min_ms`, after three warm-up calls.
+fn time(mut f: impl FnMut(), min_ms: u128) -> f64 {
+    for _ in 0..3 {
+        f();
+    }
+    let start = Instant::now();
+    let mut calls = 0_u64;
+    while start.elapsed().as_millis() < min_ms {
+        f();
+        calls += 1;
+    }
+    start.elapsed().as_nanos() as f64 / calls as f64
+}
+
+#[test]
+#[ignore = "timing, not a test: run in release with --ignored --nocapture"]
+fn media_fec_timings() {
+    for (k, m, len) in [(4, 2, 160), (4, 2, 1300), (16, 4, 1200), (255, 1, 1300)] {
+        let policy = MediaFecPolicy {
+            audio_data_shards: k as u16,
+            audio_parity_shards: m as u16,
+            max_wire_bytes: GAMECULT_MEDIA_MAX_WIRE_BYTES,
+            ..MediaFecPolicy::STANDARD
+        };
+        let block = packets(k, len);
+        let encode = time(|| drop(black_box(protect_audio_block(black_box(&block), &policy, provenance()))), 300);
+        let parity = protect_audio_block(&block, &policy, provenance()).unwrap();
+        let lost = m.min(k);
+        let survivors = &block[lost..];
+        let decode = time(|| drop(black_box(recover_audio_block(black_box(&parity), survivors))), 300);
+        println!("k={k:3} m={m:3} len={len:5}: protect {encode:12.0} ns | recover {lost} lost {decode:12.0} ns");
+    }
+}