Most laptops include built-in 16-bit sound sound chips. This is old technology and sound improvement has been mostly ignored by the laptop vendors. If you want to hear 16-bit sound or learn about the basics of PC Based Audio and Audio Files.

You can upgrade your laptop's sound with the USB Laptop Upgrade Kit for $60. You only need a 450 MHz laptop with 128 MB RAM and Windows 98 SE. You get a USB Audio Adapter and a set of Noise Canceling Headphones.

If you have at least a P3 CPU with 256MB RAM then for $129.99 the Audigy 2 ZS Notebook PCMCIA card can bring great sound to your laptop. You can add Home Theater sound quality for all your music, movies, and games. Check out the December 2004 PC Magazine review.

Echo Digital Corporation makes three soundcards using the Type II CardBus interface: the basic Indigo ($159), which has a single set of 24-bit/96kHz-capable stereo outputs; the Indigo DJ ($229), with two sets of 24/96-capable stereo outputs; and the Indigo IO ($229), with one set of stereo outputs but also a two-channel analog input. The IO uses a 24-bit, 128x-oversampling A/D converter running at sample rates from 32kHz to 96kHz, and because of its applicability to, for example, the archiving of LPs, it's the one I requested for review. This came from a review by Stereophile.