There are 8 pre-amps. Two with XLR and phantom power, 6 jack. For condensors, you'll need the phantom power, the other channels are suited for dynamics. To record more than 8 channels simultaneously, you need a pre-amp with ADAT, like the Behringer ADA8000.
adat only transfers 8 at a time though. i run my mics into a mixer and then run the inserts out into the vf16. i'll have to test the preamps on my mixer and outboard preamps compared to the ones on the vf16 next time i'm in a session to see which sound better