The knobbies look a little aggressive but looks decent enough. I hear you about the loud hubs, they draw too much attention when you don't want it and generally just add to noise pollution. Other than that there is not purpose to a specifically "loud" for no other reason hub.
They're quicker than they look. The knobs are pretty low in the center but super aggressive on the edges. They are great for carving corners and switchbacks on single track. The tire is the Kenda Kinetics. Got it for $12 at Canadian tire! I still have it and the Max Daddy hanging in the basement. That pic was taken before I tried the bike on snow jumps for the first time. Worked awesome. This winter if we get enough snow I'm going to try making a table top jump lane completely out of snow.