Here's where I get lost. Should a/d input be setup as a mic on line since it is powered mic?

LINE. The Output from the UR44 is LINE level. That is what is plugged into the MOXF. LINE. The UR44 should be set to receive MIC... Make sense?

I had the 2stero record setting on but then I switched this back to 1stereo I'm suspecting the signal is still being routed back through the daw then back to my monitors.

The "2Stereo Rec" or dual stereo record will allow you to isolate your (normal) vocal mic data, from your synth data. When you have your MOXF set to "2StereoRec" the A/D Input is routed through USB 1/2 while all the MOXF Synth Parts are routed through USB 3/4

This allows the performer to play and sing simultaneously and record their (normal) vocals discreetly to a track and record the synth to a separate stereo track.
If you are not recording, then this will not matter. You don't say what your ultimate goal is...

Let's say I'm using voice Funky vocoder and I click F6 under the moxf display. There you'll see connections 1-8 I don't fully understand this. I'm referring to the EL outs 1-8 for starters what is EL? What is INSa and INSb and why do i have 8 entrys possibl? my display shows 1 thru 4 all set to insA and the remaining 4 thru 8 as blank entries.

EL is short for Elements (the manuals are great for this type of thing, just saying). There are 8 potential Elements in a Voice.

An Element, in the MOXF, is the basic playable sound... It has an Oscillator, its own Filter and Filter Envelope Generator, its own Amplifier and Amplitude Envelope Generator... etc. Each of the Elements can be a complete instrument sound or it can be a building block (one of as many as 8) that make up a VOICE.

The VOICE "Funky Vocoder" is made up of just 4 of the possible 8 Elements. And all 4 of them are routed to Insertion Effect block "A" (That's the "InsA") There are normally two Insertion Blocks A and B... they are combined when you select VOCO (the Vocoder as the Effect Type)... It take the processing power of two Insertion Effect block to recreate this Vocoder. (This is the only Effect in the MOXF that requires the resources of both A and B).

5-8 Elements are blank because there is no Waveform selected for those Element slots in this VOICE (other Voices may have more or less Elements than this Voice).

So exploring this problem a little further my inexperience forces me to ask additional questions for example regarding the insertion effects. What is INSa and INSb at first my hypothesis was that perhaps, insa goes with A/DL and Insb go with A/DR, but now I'm suspecting these are two different effects generators.

No, not at all.

In any event trying to run the vocoder I get screeching feedback my A/D input is barely cranked past 1 Can anyone put me on the right track?

The recommendation of a dynamic microphone is a serious one. Please be careful of your ears. So many users in trying to get the Vocoder to work - when there is no sound, they assume it is the VOLUME - so the first thing they do is TURN EVERYTHING UP... and when they discover the button they forgot to press - BLAMMMM!!!! they blow their own ears up!

Start with the Volume down. Use the little peak indicator light to alert you that signal is flowing into the MOXF A/D Input. The last thing you should turn up is the Main Volume (slowly).

Condenser microphones are way to sensitive to be of any real good use for the Funky Vocoder... Like wearing a tuxedo to cookout, you're overdressed and it is not a good thing, in this instance. Condenser microphone is great for smooth, warm vocals... it gets a failing grade on the "Funky Vocoder"... its like so serious an OVERKILL as to ruin the experience!

Vocoder mic doesn't have to be fancy - but Dynamic will give you the proper results!!!!

If you don't have a Dynamic microphone... you Headphones are dynamic...
Plug them into the LEFT A/D Input jack and speak into the LEFT Earpiece....

Don't laugh... It works because a SPEAKER and a MICROPHONE are like city and country cousins. They are both Transducers.
A Transducer takes one form of energy and turns it into another form of energy.
The Speaker and the Mic are opposites... The Microphone takes air molecules in motion and turns them into electrons... While the Speaker take electrons and puts air molecules in motion.

So the better your headphone, the better microphone they will make... If they are closed ear headphone so much the better as you can isolate them from your speakers (which will undoubtedly be on the edge of FEEDING BACK BIG TIME with that condenser!!!).

Let us know... Remember the Vocoder is not smooth and clean, it is Funky and robotic in nature... Using Headphones you will lose some high frequencies (hey they are optimized to be headphones, not microphones... we are just reversing the role)... But get yourself a Dynamic - next time you visit your favorite music store.