Windows computers come with a default sound card. That sound card works for most recreational or business sound needs. It will allow you to listen to music, listen to audio in online meetings, etc. To create sophisticated music projects and run really professional equipment, you might need to get a special sound card and add it to your computer.
Windows computers also come with a built it basic soundcard driver, the software needed to talk between Windows and audio software. For serious music composition on a computer, you would need a better soundcard driver. But the good news is, not all of them cost money.
One good free soundcard driver is ASIO4ALL. It will help to improve audio playback inside music software significantly. It doesn't take very many sounds to cause your basic driver to lag, which creates clipping sound when you playback the audio.