Andreas, I think there are a couple of things that differ between having high or slow speed prior to a descent.First off, and perhaps most importantly, if we assume flight idle you will get a higher rate of descent if your airspeed is high, i.e. you go downhill faster.Secondly, speed brakes are more efficient at higher speeds compared to lower speeds. What this means is that since you get more drag out of an extended speed brake at high speed you

'Potential' energy methinks Tord.

:-wave

Andreas,You shouldn't get any problems with the pressure controller, it's perfectly capable of keeping the cabin pressure in check, even during some pretty steep desceents (I've topped 6000ft/min and never had any problems).My personal preference is to lose the altitude first with high speed (so the speedbrake can kill loads of energy) then slow down once level. Of course, ATC can disrupt this by issuing speed constraints but you just do what you can.Planning the descent is one of the most difficult parts of operating an airliner, someone has posted the three times table rule in this thread and he's spot on, that's a great way to estimate how you are doing on the profile. The only caveat being that you make sure you work on an absolute minimum miles to go and not just what the box says. ATC will most likely cut you short and leave you high.Hope this helps,Ian