I had four noises that I was chasing down.
1. I found to be my Nokon shift housing. Some light lube on the links fixed that.
2. Where the brake hose enters the frame. It's a tight fit, so I guess the friction was making a creaking sound when I turn the bar.. Again, some light lube fixed that.
3. Loud creaking from the front end after fixing the creaking from the shift housing and brake hose. Took apart the headset, cleaned and re lubed the bearings and the cups where they sit. I did a ride after and so far...no noise.
4. The ticking...this was the one I was chasing for a while. I initially thought it was the seat rail, cleaned and lubed the hardware. Then I thought it was the seat rail...lubed the rail and clamp...nope. Cleaned and regreased the seat clamp bolt...nope. Swapped saddles...still nope. So out of the blue one night...I turned the seat clamp around 180 degrees. Boom...no more noise.
If the creaking is making noise when you're out of the saddle...it's probably not the seat post. Double check the headset and bottom bracket. If you're running a double chainring...also check that the chainring bolts are tight and greased.
The rattling inside the frame isn't that bad. I'd have to be going pretty fast over some real rough terrain for it to be really noticeable...or maybe I'm just used to it.