By Jeremy Wagstaff

SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) - Mostly young, male audiophiles throng a Singapore hotel ballroom, intently assessing headphones, earbuds and in-ear monitors - priced from $50 to as much as $10,000.

Alongside are banks of dedicated digital audio players (DAPs), with an entire wall of the expo showcasing the king of DAPs: iriver.

Less than five years ago, the South Korean firm was staring at bankruptcy, its low-end mp3 file converter players no match for Apple's iPod and the rise of the music-playing smartphone.

But, after some missteps and a name change, Astell & Kern has created a small but lucrative market for those wanting to hear music as it sounds in the studio or concert hall.

This is the world of high resolution (hi-res) audio (HRA), a niche that smartphone makers, music companies and even telecoms carriers hope will, if not move to the mainstream, at least sprinkle some of its fat margins on their bottom lines.

"Now, people are interested in $3,000 players," says James Lee, Astell & Kern's vice president. "Before, they would think $300 players were crazy. Now, $1,000 is the average price."

And that's a snip compared to the $55,000 price tag on a pair of Sennheiser Orpheus HE 1 electrostatic headphones resting on a marble-mounted amplifier on show for selected guests in a room on the hotel's 34th floor.

Consumer demand for HRA is being fed in part by lifestyle shifts. We commute longer, live in smaller apartments and use smarter phones and streaming services, like Spotify. Americans spend 24 hours a week listening to music, says market consultancy Nielsen.

Also, there are fewer constraints on audio quality. A decade ago, a 'lossy' MP3 format - where file compression meant reduced quality - made sense when $30 would buy enough space for only about 500 songs. Now, the same price would get you enough flash drive for 32,000 songs.

AUDIO ADD-ONS

The growth in listening to music is having a knock-on impact on Bluetooth speakers, headphones and other audio accessories. Last year, Americans spent more on headphones for the first time than they did on physical music, such as CDs.

This has stirred hardware makers. Apple's purchase of headphones and music streaming company Beats for $3 billion in 2014 has overshadowed efforts by other manufacturers to offer audio accessories and features.