To my way of thinking, the problem with presets isn't with the presets temselves but with the way many of the users who like to use them actually use them. Now stick with me here for a minute befor you light up the flamethrowers...
I think Dogman is right, there's nothing wrong in principle with using a preset as a "get it close" starting off point from which you can dial in quicker. There will even be the occasional harmonic convergence when the preset just so happens to be the way it sounds best, if you get lucky. There's not a thing wrong with any of that in principle.
However, the use of presets in simply the way described above tends to diminish greatly as one gains experinece with the use of the tool. To use Dogman's example, it is faster and easier for me to just dial in "3.5:1,-5,fast" than it is to figure out which preset actually represents that, scroll through the presets (if it's a plug or iron with a scrolling menu) and select it. Once one becomes familiar with the way the parameters actually work, presets do little to facilitate one's ability, IMHO.
And this is where the presets get insidious, because the natural response to the above is, "Well, that's OK for you, you have experinece with compressor settings. But the presets can help out a newb who doesn't yet undertsnad the difference between 'fast attack' and 'blitzkreig'." In actuality, I take the position they do just the opposite, they tend to keep the newb a newb who will become dependant upon those presets like a crutch and most of the time will not even be able to tell you just what settings any given preset represents or what those settings actually mean. And beyond that, the majority will rarely, if ever, actually ever stray off of the preset settings.
If you don't believe me, take a survey amongst you neighbors and ask them what power and time they are actually setting their microwave oven for when they press the "Popcorn" preset. Over half of them will not give a correct answer, or will say, "Who cares?" Then ask them if their "Popcorn" preset over cook, under cook, or cook perfectly your brand of microwave popcorn. Less than half (probably closer to 1/3rd) will answer "cook perfectly". Then ask the majority who say that it doesn't cook perfectly if they still use the Popcorn button or whether they use manual time ro power settings to dial it in right. The vast majority of them will say they still use the preset. Some may say they turn it off a few seconds early, others may say thay use it and then use it a second time, but turn it off the second time after a few seconds. But very few people will say they forego the use of the "Popcorn" button altogether because it doesn't do the job as well as a manual time and power setting will.
A "premaster" setting on a compressor is like that "popcorn" button on a microwave. It will as often as not be the wrong setting for the application, and those who use it will tend to get so hooked on using it that they will not learn much about what it actually means and will rarely stray off of it's defaults.
That's how today's society wants it. Everybody wants to be a rocket scientist without having to actually learn any science or have any experience with rockets. They want to just push a button and have a machine do it for them. And we wonder why the Space Shuttle leaves more garbage behind it than a Lollapalooza crowd...
OK, so I got a little rant-y at the end there. sorry.
G.
