Gorgeous! GLWTS. If I had the money and didn't have other things to buy before a new instrument (plus a car that's going in for a service tomorrow so will likely need all sorts of expensive things doing to it) I'd be all over this!
I have a Sire V7 and it's pretty damn quiet, although my playing environment isn't particularly noisy electronics-wise. Plus it's lovely to play. And sounds amazing. So yeah, there's that.
Unfortunately my car needs servicing before I can spend on fun stuff, and given its history of needing work doing when I wasn't expecting it I'm going to have to be prudent for now. That's not to say I'm not very tempted though...
I suspect that depends more on the functionality of the EB database than the reputability of PMT as a retailer. I'm sure PMT wouldn't want to risk falling out with EB by selling knock-off gear.
Indeed, these are very handy and you can plug your MP3 player/phone into it (assuming your phone has an aux socket, which alas my current phone doesn't so my amPlug is gathering dust at the moment 😡).
I've used Focusrite's Scarlett Solo and 2i2 and both are excellent and would be ideal. I use Cakewalk for my DAW as it's free but has more functionality than Audacity (which is still good though), such as being able to use plugins to replicate effects so you can try them out before spending more money on pedals.