I've been using Reaper for about 10 months for recording with an Alesis Multimix 8 Firewire. It has a short learning curve from a novice perspective; so if you are familiar with the basics of audio, you'll be up and running in no time.

Prior to Reaper I used Nero WaveEditor, which I got some time ago with a CDRW drive. The abilities were great and I still use it regular for single track enhancement. The tool I use most often is the Dynamic Processor, which allows for custom gain curves that can be saved.