I couldn't get hired to do my job as a government employee because I don't have at least a masters. Luckily the way my contract works, it didn't matter.
I enjoy being the person in my family who dropped out of college. It short circuits a lot of degree based bragging, because I have a couple of people with phds working for me.
Just grab it and try it out, I wasn't trying to discourage you. Lots of small shop gear sounds great, but has some asthetic issues. Lots going on with that case...
There's an apogee rosetta 24/96 on ebay right now for $599 buy it now...that'd be a steal for doing needledrops.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Apogee-Rosetta-AD-24-bit-96k-Converter-Near-Mint_W0QQitemZ280186785072QQihZ018QQcategoryZ41784QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Looks out of stock everywhere.
I did find this one for dusty: Amazon.com: Invicta Men's II Collection Square Skull Black Technofiber Watch #4590: Jewelry
And if I weren't broke, i'd be all over this:
If you could stretch your budget to $500, headamp's pico is a great little piece, dac and amp.
Otherwise, I really like the way my m3 sounds with my 225s, and you should be able to find an m3 for $250ish, and then have $150ish to spend on a decent external soundcard.