i bought the Dolby Atmos tool in windows in Settings, Sound, Your Headphone, scroll to bottom for 3rd party tools. I also use FXSound for EQ settings. Very easy and free. I can now hear footsteps better.

I've heard many people think that they have naturally great imaging for games. I'm sure you can find software that'll make it better but I'd recommend giving it an hour before using them. No need to make things overly complicated if you don't have to

I’ve always wondered about conflicting things with pretty much all games having different audio output (stereo, 5.1, 7.1, etc). So question is I guess, set everything to stereo? And when using a 3rd party would I leave the game in stereo? I’m hoping this to be a pretty decent upgrade over what I currently have. This is on a newer razer laptop so I’m hoping I won’t need and amp etc. however, I do have a usb c port that I guess I could use for more power

If you're using a normal stereo output (no DSP), use Stereo (or 'headphone' if available) output. If using one of the virtual surround systems (either software or hardware), set to 7.1.

If you're just plugging the headphones into your desktop tower or monitor, it's probably just normal stereo.