Apparently I need to have input echo "on" to use guitar plugins. Now recently hearing a slap back echo when having it on. Off, I see an input signal in the channel with no slap back echo. (normal) Now, in order to hear the guitar plugin, I click the input echo and can hear it, but with a delay (hearing the dry signal first then the effect a micro second later, hence...the delay effect. Thanks for any help. 
 
Also: bringing in even a soft synth track, I hear the note milliseconds after striking the keyboard. My buffering is the same as is always is and was ( changing it doesn't solve the problem) before this just started happening. 

That slap back you're hearing is most likely latency
Hit P > Driver Settings > ASIO Panel > and set it to 128 or 64

The dry signal you're hearing is most likely through your sound cards panel ...
... you should mute that and see if you get a good monitoring signal of your guitar just with input monitoring.
 

I would make sure the Focusrite 6i6 is set up properly using the latest drivers.
As Steve said, im also willing to bet what your hearing is latency.

As pointed out above, the delay you are hearing is the direct signal along with the signal routed through the DAW.
 
When it comes to MIDI keyboard response, it too will be affected by the same causes of latency as audio because the problem you are experiencing has nothing to do with MIDI but with the audio generated by the MIDI data.
 
To save typing it all over again here is what I posted yesterday about a similar problem.

I have a Scarlett 2i2, and it has a little switch on the front "Direct Monitor On/Off". Turn that off. Then you should only be hearing the effected sound from the plug-in.

My 6i6 doesn't have a switch to turn off the direct monitor. The dry signal is getting mixed in with the plugin. My initial delayed reaction to the plugin seems to have for now gone away, but the mixed in dry signal is now the issue.

If the hardware does not provide a way to mix the direct signal with the DAW signal, there is likely a software mixer supplied by the manufacturer that performs the task. I believe Focusrite calls their product MixControl.

Try: Input Echo On; click the PDC button (in the Control Bar)

a6strng
My 6i6 doesn't have a switch to turn off the direct monitor. The dry signal is getting mixed in with the plugin. My initial delayed reaction to the plugin seems to have for now gone away, but the mixed in dry signal is now the issue.

Did your Focusrite come with the Scarlett mix control Software ?
If it did, open it up and change the routing preset to DAW tracking.
This will eliminate the dry signal from being mixed in with the VST processed signal.