DMX Duo . Controller or not?

It is a controller but only to a certain extent. If you knew you would want to create your own scenes and the like Why did you not look for a controller with faders for dmx control?
Welcome to the forums.
Sincerely,

OK, after playing with it a bit more (and guessing how to address the PARs to work with the built-in programs), I'm starting to see the difference and get an appreciation for what this thing can do.

It seems to me that the FX side of the controller won't be used with this kit, and that I should try to get acquainted with the different programs that are installed by default and try to see where they might fit best.

The RS-232 port is a trivial issue as that can be emulated and replaced with a USB Adaptor. Warning though, some software needs some rather specific dongles(such as the A&H updater for their ML and GL series, and some Total Control 1000 software).

Follow-on question:

If I add another bar of four PAR64LEDs to this controller, addressed 5 through 8, do the default programs in the DMX DUO drive them? Or would I have to overlay the new lights with the same 1-4 address again?

Bump.

Do the default programs in the DMX DUO support eight independent lights, or would I just address the second bank the same as the first and have them run the same program?

I don't know the DMX Duo.

Let's assume it only supports 8 independent lights. Maybe this means it only supports 8 DMX channels. Pardon my ignorance.

Now, let's say you want to expand your lighting show and double up:
You buy an identical set of lights and you assign them to the same DMX addresses(via whatever means you need to use, be it hard addressing, dimmer packs, whatever).

There's no valid reason why this wouldn't work provided you can get the signal to the other lights.

One of the many nice things about DMX is that it's perfectly acceptable to let things share addresses, it's not frowned upon in any way. When I was doing shows with a 2000-seat venue, the lighting company would frequently put many many lights(cans) on the same DMX channels to ease management(which was also as per the lighting designer's spec).

So, feel free to double up, it should work. You're right, they'll just also run the same program as your first bank.