When I got my first D300, I shot a lot of test shots before ever shooting any paying job with it. I shot color checker charts, zone system scales, etc, with every variable of the included Picture Control settings looking for the combination that would yield the the most faithful color saturation, widest tonal range, best shadow and highlight detail. After all of these test shots I found that starting with the Neutral Picture Control with the following settings, gave me the base results that I was looking for:
Sharpening: +5
Contrast: +1
Brightness: +1
Saturation: +1
Hue: 0
I only shoot in raw, and I use the above settings (saved in-camera as "Custom" Picture Control) for virtually all my shooting. This provides me with a good starting point from which I then can make any necessary adjustments needed on an image-by-image basis in NX2, but this "Custom" setting is a good base for most of my images.