A novice struggling with unwanted echoing from midi input

First of all, thanks again to everyone who so very kindly chipped in with assistance on an earlier problem I was having. You fixed it
 
Now, as I once again find time to start the learning process, I'm running into another problem I can't figure out and I've tried and failed to  find answers in cakewalk documentation, Groove 3 and the book, Sonar 3 Power!.
 
I'm learning the software, Sonar X3 Professional.  I can record audio.  And today I finally got my midi controller to sound through my computer, quite an accomplishment for me.
 
But here's my problem now:
 
When I sample a synth sound via the on screen keyboard I get this incredible echo effect as in it echoes each note 3 times, each softer than the next.  When I play notes through my midi keyboard, same effect.  When I record a track using my midi controller keyboard I hear the echoing as I play and it's still there on playback. The latency is also bad as in the  note sounds about 1/4 second after I hit it on the keyboard -- and then we have the echoing chorus.
 
I am using a Yamaha YPG keyboard as a controller which connects to my laptop via a Usb cable.  My audio adapter is a Samson GT which is a set of monitors with a built in audio interface.
 
I have a mike plugged directly into the Samson audio interface and am able to record vocals without any of this echoing problem.
 
I would absolutely hugely appreciate any ideas on midi settings or anything else I might change that could fix this problem or at least help me figure out how to diagnosis it
 
I have my yamaha midi set to Local ON, Ext Clock ON KBD out ON  style out ON and then they tell me to do an initial send to the computer which I do.  
 
Can't figure out if it's an effects setting I might have accidentally hit in Sonar X3 Professional or something set wrong with the Yamaha.  Or something wrong with the cable connector?  I am thinking it's probably not the audio adapter since it works fine with direct input from a mike -- not latency issues, no echoes.d  But obviously, rank amateur that I am, what do I know?
 
Thanks in advance for any assistance anyone can offer.  Pulling out hair here.  
 
 
 
 

thanks for your ideas, Michael.
 I DO have Local turned off on the Yamaha.  That was a typo
 
I'll take a look at the control panel re the audio interface between the controller and the computer and see if there is any adjustments that can be made.  But I'm using the cable suggested by the Yamaha manual and don't see anything in the manual about special settings for the cable.  
 
However, there are some weird preset "PC settings" in the yamaha that the manual suggests I use to get the controller working properly.  I say weird because the local, keyboard out, extclock etc. settings are DIFFERENT than what I'm reading on these forums works.  And, aside from the ugly echo thing, I am at least able to control the synth notes with the keyboard without the "PC 1 or PC2 presets.
 
 I will try those PC settings on the Yamaha tomorrow, one by one, and report back if I have any success.
 
Again, thank you for taking the time to respond. 

Unless the YPG contains an arpeggiator, sequencer or things such as LFOs or delays that can be synced to MIDI clock then MIDI clock sync shouldn't make any difference whether clock is internal, external or off because the keyboard almost certainly won't have a use for it anyway.

If it does have functions that need to be clock synced to Sonar then switching it to receiving external MIDI clock shouldn't make any difference to how it behaves as a MIDI controller. Don't forget that clock settings are a per-project preference setting in Sonar and need to be configured for every project.

The yamaha YPG may have some built ins like a sequencer, etc.  I haven't had it long enough to check it out completely but it's now on my list to turn OFF any such functions should there be any.  I only want to use the keyboard as a controller and edit and add only from the DAW program.  So thanks for mentioning this., tlw
 
Also many thanks re the reassurance that the external clock settings won't be a prob as i can control thid from within the DAW on a per project basis.
 
Johnny V, I'll bet you're right re that eerie triple echo sound I was getting along with a very bad initial delay being caused by a loop back to the keyboard. Good for a Halloween Haunted House but not much else.
 
Thanks Guys!