Just out of curiosity. What laptop are you using? Mine is an ACER
Ferrari 3000 (1800+ Athlon-XP-M) and it's crap, for sound. I've tried
a Tascam-USB and it was no substantial improvement on the system. The
card was definitely better than the built in (I suppose that need no
explanation). I've installed a P4 (no laptop) in my small studio and
that beats that hell out of the laptop.
regards,
/bengan