I have a 97 eclpise non turbo and was wondering which would be better,a short ram intake or a cold air intake...also which sounds louder????  

I know that nether will give you a lot of hp. Your engine is not pulling enough air for the intake to help all that much. At best you might get 10hp but on average it will be about 5hp. As for sound the cold air intake will be the best.  

short ram is usualy louder since there its much more open
cold are will get you a little more power, youll usualy  loose some low end torque with both (more with ram air) unless you CAI is as long as your stock intake

but yeah you wont get much out of them without a larger engine or F/I