I have tried pre-ground but even the ones from the "illy" brand that are vacuum sealed taste mediocre at best. This i because there is no one setting that will work great for every machine. In fact they will probably work best on a mediocre machine with a mediocre pump so it does not get clogged.

Any pre-ground i have ever used flushed through my machine in like 5 to 10 seconds most of the time.

A simple handgrinder like a Timemore C3 will outperform preground. Get the same beans like you always do, grind them yourself and you can immediately smell a huge difference.