So, I recently got back into gaming (took 4 years of :S, and now I play cod4 mostly).
Any ways I would consider myself an audiophile. I've owned a sennheiser hd280 pro, 3 pair of etymotic er6is, a pair of ultimate ears tripple fi 10 pro, a pair of Nixon 10 mm wires (not a good choice), a pair of Nixon nomadic headphones (got both pair of Nixons for free via snowboarding), and a pair of ultimate ears super fi 5.
To put things in perspective my cheapest pair of ear buds (they are all ear buds except the sennheiser 280's and the nixon nomadic headphones) was the nixons for $60, and I don't really count them because they aren't high end headphones they just look nice. So my cheapest pair of ear buds that I've bought in the past 4 years are worth $120 and were the etymotic er6i's. Which also happen to be my favorite headphones. They are basically earplugs (block out 32db of sound which is on par with higher end ear plugs) with high quality drivers in them. They sound better than my sennheiser hd 280 pros and my ultimate ears tripple fi 10 pros (cost 300 and had 2 driers in them). You can hear every thing super clear and accurately.
For gaming I use my etymotic er6is and a sennheiser headphone mixamp (I got my mixamp from some sennheiser headset that obviously had a forgetull sound quality). In my experience it is very easy to tell where people are, and being able to hear those extra foot steps clearly among gunfire is always welcome. Now I've used this mixamp setup with my sennheiser hd 280 pros and I've also used an ltb 5.1 surround sound headset and neither come close to the accuracy at which I can locate enemies with my er6is.
SO I have one question why doesn't any one game with ear buds? I've had the best experience with ear buds, and don't try to tell me that full size cans have better sound or bass or something like that. Oh and if you want to throw the argument out that ear buds don't allow your ear to filter the sound, Etymotic includes filters in all of their ear buds that filter the sound the way your ear would normally filter it.
As I mentioned before my er6i's are 32 db noise isolating. Let me put this in perspective for you, I can have my ipod touch at less than half (maybe 1/3) volume and not hear people talking to me, or vacuums, or cars driving by outside. Point being, having a high degree of noise isolation will not only get you more into the game but also allow you to more accurately hear subtle footsteps which is a definite bonus.
p.s. not having sweaty ears after an hour of playing is a nice benefit for ear bud users.
So I guess you can get some er6i's for $72 now
http
/www.amazon.com/Etymotic-Research-Isolator-Earphones-White/dp/B0007WTHLO