CDs to harddrive to DAC wtihout a PC?

I've been trying to get this all straight. Digital seems very confusing what with all these names like airport express, squesebox, transporter, sonus, Flac, EAC,RAID,SATA, etc. But is it possible to download music from an audiophile transport directly to a harddrive without a cumbersome computer? I've not tried a Mac, but slugging it out with anything made designed for Windows does not sound relaxing at all. (If Microsoft and friends were held as responsible for their products as say the automobile industry is they'd recall every product I've tried!) I don't want the sound distributed all over the house, (at least not now) but the idea of my music library played from a harddrive and memory buffer (which many insist can sound better) through my own DAC does sound appealing. I'd like the chain to be something like this. Output from transport, to a harddrive, then from the harddrive to my DAC with a backup and of course a remote control display like I've seen with the squeezebox by my chair as an interface? What would I need to do this? Or is it possible. I'd rather buy the CDs than download. Can anyone help. Thanks in advance, and maybe I'm wishing here. . .