To simply rip music you could use EAC(Exact Audio Copy /
www.exactaudiocopy.de )--you couldn't get any better than that. Also it's free. It has a nice tagging interface, so you'll have littler fussing about with manual tagging.
For audio editing, both Sound Forge and Audition are nice. I prefer Sound Forge, as it's superior for precise audio manipulation, but Audition is also excellent. Both can rip CDs fine. Sound Forge doesn't do multitrack mixing, but Audition does. The Sound Forge Audio Studio (low-end version) will cost you about $10-30 (I see a used copy on Amazon for $8). Sound Forge really hasn't changed much in the last 15 years, so going with a somewhat older version probably won't have much impact. Both take advantage of ASIO, and at least with Sound Forge, it makes a hefty difference with a nice sound card. Audition is like $20/month. Not exactly a bargain.
** After re-reading your post I guess you meant a multitrack recording software? REAPER is nice, and only costs $60. It has no waveform editor, if that matters to you, but otherwise is a complete recording, mixing, and mastering software.
"I also binned the Toneport UX2. The ASIO driver it comes with only operates at 16bit, 48K compared to 32bit 192K for the on-board Sigmatel driver"
The Toneport UX2 should work fine up to 24bit/96khz (and should have no problem running at 24bit/44.1khz). You must have a driver issue, as the hardware is supposedly quite capable. Also, it will be *far far far* better than your Sigmatell onboard audio, regardless of what bit and sampling rates it offers. The Sigmatel is a no good. Don't bin the Toneport, just troubleshoot!
"also apparently has a Roland MIDI driver/control interface or something, which I'm about to investigate."
The MIDI controller on the Toneport UX2 is going to be far superior to the Sigmatel. It actually has a physical interface, whereas the Sigmatel is probably just some software synth crap.
There is also the benefit that using the Toneport will provide to your audio studio needs and stuffs: the lower latency of the ASIO driver, and the benefits it provides to VST & VSTi stuff is a big deal, for sure.