Not all of us are born with the gift of hearing. And if you don’t happen to have the money to invest in hearing aids, that means a lifetime of silence. LSTN is a high-end music accessories company that produces ethical headphones and speakers with profits donated to those in need of hearing devices.
The post contains affiliate links to brands I love and shops I actively support.
LSTN founders Bridget Hilton and Joe Huff are passionate about global hearing awareness. Specifically, people who were either born with hearing impairments or lost it somewhere along the way. They built LSTN on the foundation of music’s powerful appeal and harnessed it to change lives around the globe. All LSTN product sales create direct donations towards providing hearing aids and devices. You can learn lots more about their charity partner, Starkey Hearing Foundation, over here.
LSTN’s donated profits have already changed lives in Peru, the United States, Dominican Republic, Mexico, China, Indonesia, Kenya, and Sri Lanka. Globally, the Starkey Hearing Foundation has provided more than 1.9 million hearing aids and care to people in need.
Life is made up of sharing ideas, dreams and goals. Hearing is vital to that. Giving one person the gift of hearing may seem like a small act of kindness, but it has a compounding effect on the future of our world.
– Starkey Hearing Foundation
I keep my Zebra Troubadour headphones on my office desk and use them whenever I’m editing YouTube videos or just want to blast some music and tune the world out. The audio quality of these on-ear headphones is fantastic!
The range of sound that the LSTN headphone produce is far superior to others I’ve used in the past. (Mainly earbuds, but I’m pretty confident that I use headphones more than the average person due to how frequently I’m plugged into a computer or listening to music on the subway.) I’m able to hear a wider range of subtle sounds and deeper bass than with standard speakers. Yep, I’ve even cringed a few times listening back to YouTube videos I’ve edited without these babies on!
The sound coming through the Troubadour headphones is rich, balanced, and powerful. Keep in mind that these are not noise-canceling and you will have sound leaking. Don’t expect to wear these on a plane without seriously annoying your seat neighbors.
Yes, absolutely! Thoughtful, ethical design details, like plush vegan leather ear cushions and sustainable Zebra wood paneling, make the Troubadour headphones timeless and eyecatching. I love the aesthetic combination of real wood, metal, and smooth black “leather.” But they don’t just look and sound amazing, they are super comfortable to wear. The vegan leather ear pads feel like they are made of memory foam, and have held their original shape for over a year now. In fact, the headphones still look brand new, despite regular use.
My templates do get a little fatigued if I’ve been wearing the headphones over my glasses for several hours. But that seems to be the case with any other on-ear headphones I’ve tried, so I don’t hold it against them.
I’ll be honest with you, 90% of the time I use my headphone plugged in. The included wire has a pause/resume button, mic, and a wood covered plug casing, which I think is a nice touch.
However, these headphones easily pair with your computer or any bluetooth device, like a phone or TV. When going wireless, the Troubadour is good up to 30′. I can walk between the second floor and the first floor of my house with only the very occasional audio hiccup. Once a device is paired, you can use the On/Off button on the bottom of the headphones to stop or resume pairing. I love that I can take calls from my computer and then walk around my house hands-free. And the battery life is up to 8 hours, though I’ve yet to reach that limit.
Writing this review has really sunk in the gravity of hearing loss. I’m sitting here typing away with all sorts of audio feedback surrounding me: music thumping in my headphones, the gentle clicking of my keyboard keys, my cat chirping for attention, and the occasional phone notification pings from my husband. I can’t imagine a life without the richness of sound.
At this time, I’ve only been able to find LSTN headphones online. I purchased mine on Alltrueist, but you can also shop directly from the LSTN website.
Alltrueist is a luxury, ethical online boutique with great shipping options to the US and Canada, plus a points program. (I’m always a sucker for those!) Alltrueist has regular sales, so be sure to sign up for their newsletter to be alerted of promos or sales. (I was able to purchase my LSTN headphones at a discount when Alltrueist ran a promo for them last year.)
Just a quick note how much I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you for visiting me in my little corner of the web. There are some very exciting things planned for the new year, including *fingers crossed* some product development. Shh!