[mattkrass]

It brings a tear to my eye to declare my poor iPod dead in the water and since I'm about to sink some serious cash in to my BlackBerry soon (Upgrade is this weekend, finally) I can't really replace it so I had an idea. I've decided to deviate from my plan to get an 8830 to instead get an 8330 (The keyboard won me over!) and I see that the Curve has a 3.5 mm headphone jack in it.

Here is my query: Would the Curve work well as an MP3 player? I've purchased an 8GB microSD card for it and I plan on bringing my earbuds over from the iPod. It would be nice to be able to just throw my earbuds in, and listen to music on the Curve. Also, if I holster it with the RIM leather holster with sleeper magnet, will the music playback override that, or will the phone sleep anyway and halt playback? I'm not an intense audiophile so as long as the sound is decent and audible without distorting I'm happy.

Thanks,
Matt

[GrandMasterB]

I have an 8GB card with my Curve and it effectively replaced my 16GB iPod Touch.

The Curve makes a great little MP3 player. If you use the included handsfree kit , it is really convinient to press the answer/end/mute button to pause and unpause the player BUT the included headset sounds like garbage.

With my old Zune passive isolating earbuds, the Curve sounds pretty dang good. Keep in mind there is a volume boost but other than that there are no other EQ's so what you hear is what you get.

It is also nice because the Curve will automatically pause your music to notify you of incoming calls,text,emails etc. and resume playing after you hang up.

And it works well within the OEM holster with the sleeper magnet. When put in the case the screen goes off but the music never stops.

[mattkrass]

Silly question, but I assume when the phone receives a call, it pauses the music, which I knew about, but does it make any distinction that a call is coming in? I ask because my intended ringtone is a song I listen to quite often and I'm a little worried if I'm not paying very close attention it will cause me to just assume its the music and ignore the incoming call, heh.

[GrandMasterB]

Well , when you have a phone call , it pauses instantly and my phone starts to vibrate once and then play my ringtone through the phones speaker (not your headset). The music will stay paused until you either let the call go to voicemail or end the call after talking.

When you get a text or email then you can feel your phone start to vibrate and the music does NOT stop , mine vibrates twice , then after it has vibrated it will pause the music while the alert is sounded , also twice on mine, then the music will resume.

So with my profile settings I know that if the music pauses at the same time my phone starts to vibrate that it is a phone call and if it is vibrating and the music is still playing then it is a text or email.

Also I should point out that the way the phone acts as you recieve these calls and or messages is based on your specific profile settings.

[mattkrass]

So with earbuds plugged in the music will just go silent and the ringtone will play through the phone?

[oops956]

I use my pearl as my mp3 player sometimes. The music pauses but through the earbuds the ringtone does not play.

I just know that when it pauses I have a call

[dasubersoldat]

I have both an ipod and a BB...I use both for listening to music all the time. The BB is great for a media player and as long as you have that 8gb sd card you should be fine.

[deztructi0n]

The BB replaced my Creative Zen as my main listening device. Just get a decent amount memory card for your needs and a good pair of headphones and you'll be fine. The music dies off and the ring tone plays from your phone, but I was wondering if there was any way of making everything go through the headphones? Like the music dies off then your ring tone plays through the headphones then you answer the call and their voice is played through the headphone. Is this possible? I know you can activate headset once in a call but can you just leave it activated automatically? Thanks.

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[CrackerBarrel1]

Anyone have any crackle sounds in between songs or when you receive a text message. Seems to happen to me when using the headphone jack, more clearly happens when I am using it with my car stereo. Thanks.

[LMG]

My Curve definitly replaced my IPod haven't had a problem with any crackle between songs or while recieving data. Music seems clear.

[rockigirl]

My bb works great as an mp3 player. The only thing I don't like is that the headphones don't have a mic so I had a few issues in the beginning answering phone calls. Now I'm good.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[scottlucky13]

How does everyone's battery hold up while listening to mp3's? I know it will drain it faster just curious how long it will last. Thanks

[mr.jcarter]

Just get a Zune.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[GrandMasterB]

This is the first SmartPhone/ PPC or any phone for that matter that can handle being used ALL day and not crap out early.

I can easily make it through the day , 6:30am - 1:00am and still have 25% battery left after about I talk about 2 hours, text 200 or so , dozens of emails , and use the Media player for music at least half the day (6-8 hours) , and spend hours each day browsing Crackberry and searching for rings and themes with the occasional shopping trip to Amazon or similar.

I charge my Curve EVERYNIGHT. If I don't listen to music I can easily make it 2 days before charging.

[rockigirl]

I have no major issues with battery life. I listen to music all the time and I can go at least a day and a half without charging.

[reeneebob]

As an iPod Touch and iPod Classic owner, I tried using my Pearl and then my Curve for an Mp3 player, and 24 hours later my iPod was back in my purse.

If you are used to the ease of your iPod, you will be disappointed. As an mp3 player, the Curve is a fantastic PHONE.

[mattkrass]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, since I've got your attention I have a few other things to ask.

Mostly about the built in media player, does it support playlists and maybe sorting by album/artist/etc ? If not it's not really a big deal but it would be nice. And any good third party, preferably free apps that you may recommend for this job?

Thanks!

[GrandMasterB]

I have had at LEAST 2 dozen different MP3 players over the years ,everything from iPod Shuffles/Classic/Touch/IHP120/IHP140/PPC's/CreativeZens/creativePearl/Philips many MANY LG phones and Zunes to my very first 128mb RCA Lyra that I got almost 7 years ago.

I'll take the convinience the Curve provides as a mulitmedia phone , over carrying additional devices attached to the BatMan type utility belt (or Purse) that would be required to do what the Curve can already do. So as far as "ease" of use the Curve has your Classic beat IMHO.


Matt,
When you pull up the media player you have,

Music
Videos
RingTones
Pictures
Voice Notes

The music sub menus are,

Now Playing
All Songs
Artists
Albums
Genres
Playlists
Sample Songs
Shuffle Songs

It has been my experience that everything is well sorted ,tagged and cover art intact AND you are welcome to put together your own on the fly playlists if you wish.

[scottlucky13]

thanks for the info on the battery life guys/gals

[phantomsphan]

I use my BB as an MP3 player everyday using my stereo bluetooth headphones. The media player isn't the greatest, but just the fact that I can combine 2 devices into one, more than makes up for it. I'd use it to watch more videos too, but I already have tons of them converted for my Axim and the BB won't play Xvid files and after shrinking I don't want to convert them again.

As far as playing music and navigating, the easiest thing for me is to create playlists for your albums (if you load albums). That way you don't have to worry about tags and just have to go to 'Playlists' and see everything you have.

[phantomsphan]

Freeware MP3 tools I would suggest:

mp3tag: Tool to easily edit tags, or look them up and add if they are missing.

MP3Gain: MP3Gain analyzes and adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume. (Doesn't edit the file or change the quality). I use it a lot on low volume podcasts. (Quick Guide).

Album Art Downloader: Searches Amazon.com (and other sites) and downloads album art. Set it to save the file as 'folder.jpg' in your album's folder and media player will display the album art when the songs play.

BoncEnc: BonkEnc is a CD ripper, audio encoder and converter for various formats. It can produce MP3, MP4/M4A, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, Bonk and FLAC files. I use it to convert lossless FLAC files to high quality mp3s to listen to on my BB, or you can use it to convert to lower bitrates (thus smaller files) and fit more music on your memory card.

mp3DirectCut: mp3DirectCut is a fast and extensive audio editor and recorder for compressed mp3. You can directly cut, copy and paste without reencoding. This is nice to use to load up a favorite song, select a snippet of the best part and then save it out as a ringtone.

Hope those are useful for you (or anyone else out there). Since you are getting a Verizon Curve, you also might want to check out the guide in my sig if you want an easy way to convert videos using another good freeware product (should also work with other providers as well).

[mattkrass]

So does anyone feel the regular media player is inadequate for this job? I was looking at xPlayer, the price is right but I've read so much memory trouble here I'm afraid to load any third party app that isn't strictly necessary.

Also, this is going to sound stupid, but if I have it in the nice shiny leather OEM belt holster, I can't control it without unholstering it right?

[phantomsphan]

So does anyone feel the regular media player is inadequate for this job? I was looking at xPlayer, the price is right but I've read so much memory trouble here I'm afraid to load any third party app that isn't strictly necessary.

Also, this is going to sound stupid, but if I have it in the nice shiny leather OEM belt holster, I can't control it without unholstering it right?

I would say wait until you get it and use the built in media player and if it suits your needs, then I wouldn't worry about xplayer. If you find it lacking, then try installing it. I didn't like it at all, but that's just me.

To answer your other question.. if you get bluetooth headphones, you can use the buttons on them to (generally) pause/play, control volume and skip tracks. If it has a mic too, you can use it to take calls as well. I don't know if there are any wired ones that do that. The ear buds that come with the Curve just play and pause the music and take calls.

[myt_mouse]

So does anyone feel the regular media player is inadequate for this job? I was looking at xPlayer, the price is right but I've read so much memory trouble here I'm afraid to load any third party app that isn't strictly necessary.

Also, this is going to sound stupid, but if I have it in the nice shiny leather OEM belt holster, I can't control it without unholstering it right?

I know this is a old thread but...You can change the songs when the phone is in the holster by holding down the up and down volumes keys for a few seconds to make the player move forward/backward.