Just some snippets...

Get USB2. It is supposed to be compatable with older USB 1 peripherals, and I haven't seen any major complaints about things not working so far so I conclude its a pretty safe bet. I'd make sure I had at least 4 ports, however, preferably using hardware rather that a hub. A lot of (newer) PC motherboards have 4 USB2 ports as standard (2 as sockets in the back and 2 as header connectors on the motherboard), and some cases have front USB ports built in that can be wired easily to these motherboard headers.

Audio soundproofing of the PC: I appreciate the logistics may not allow this but with suitable drilling of holes in wall and creative cabling, why not put the base unit of the PC in a different room?

Sound Card: I've got an Audigy1 Platinum EX, which suits me fine and is very quiet compared to my previous budget items. However it has significant restrictions in terms of the available sampling rate / bit depth combonations and I don't think the Audigy (either V1 or V2) is the card for you.

Hope this helps!

[This message has been edited by MacAllcock (edited 11-06-2003).]