It hardly seems possible today to walk down the street and not hear the familiar whistle and thud of music played through headphones or some small speaker with everyone able to carry music around with them wherever they go. It seems that we have become a culture which assumes that our favourite music will be available to us wherever we travel, in a variety of forms. Whether it is a fancy new MP3 player slug round our neck, almost seen as a status symbol than anything else, or whether it is our mobile phones that are now capable of stereo sound reproduction, music has become extremely portable.

The two main reasons for this, other than consumer demand of course, has been the developments in technology that allow for the circuits and components within music players to become small, reliable and in many cases, movement free, coupled with the development of portable media formats, such as the MP3 file format which allows for sound to be encoded into binary code, easily transferable and compatible with most devices. It is these twin features that have helped us to carry our favourite tracks with us wherever we may be. ShopSupermarket has been developed to provide you with a comparison of the portable audio equipment available, and a review of prices to allow you to buy online at cheap discount prices from online UK shops or auction sites.

But where did all of this begin – where did the idea of portable audio equipment start, and if you are in the market to purchase such equipment today, what should you choose, based on the wealth of technology, format and features such devices offer?