Well it's Christmas madhouse in my store these days and I don't have much time to get online until the hoilidays are over. However, I did get some more info on the D16 last week.
First, the maximum hard drive size is 100 meg. The good news is that it will record on all 100. The D16 does not set partition sizes as some do. Also, if you want 24 bit recording, you can only record and playback 8 tracks with a max of 4 recorded at a time. If you want to record 16 with 16 track playback and record up to 8 at a time, the record resolution becomes 16 bit. The mic preamps are great (quiet) and the record process is really easy compared to the VS in my simple minded opinion. As far as the effects go, there are 8 insert (with up to 5 effects per insert), 2 system effects, and one mixdown effect. I don't believe there is any limitation on where these 8 insert effects are applied, but I don't know if I understand your question. The owners manual also mentions that you can mixdown all 16 tracks to any two open virtual tracks, to provide for a 2 track master, which can later be played back out to another source. I hope this answers some questions.
George Kaye