Hey, that's me! :D

I think I have 3 videos where footstep sounds have saved my life and many other times not on video where I've heard people before seeing them so here are my tips on maximizing that. For the record: my hearing is pretty bad from years of concerts and way worse in my right ear than left, and I'm currently using an ancient Turtle Beach Xbox headset because I'm poor. AFAIK there are no settings, aside from turning off music of course, that affect the sound of footsteps vs. this in game.

• Headphones. Even if you're using (decent) earbuds it's better than speakers in my opinion. Isolating sounds directly is the most important thing.
• Turn your volume up. Mine is pretty high. That means the game sounds are pretty loud and the gunshots and bullet cracks basically drown out your squadmates talking to you. I find it more immersive and very helpful.
• You should turn your character or your character's head constantly but when you think you hear something, freeze for a second and see what changes. Sometimes your own footsteps will lag a little but it should be obvious if someone is moving in a specific direction.
• Know the position of your squadmates and what types of surfaces make what types sounds. Although sound in DayZ can be a bit of a mess it's still a really important indicator of your surroundings. Trust your instincts.

Lastly, I find that YouTube has compressed my audio in videos where I mention some faint sounds. When I'm doing the edit I can hear it loud and clear but when I watch it back on YouTube it's not always so easy to hear. So that might be part of why you don't think you can hear as much as it seems like I do, when maybe you just haven't had as many clear examples as I have.

Good luck!