Those peat pucks tend to be very acidic... pH test the water you soak them in after it's fully expanded. maybe, soak them twice in 2 with alkaline water? I was never a fan of them. I used some my first grow and didn't have a great sprout rate - 70% or something... Plenty of people use these with high success so it's just a matter of a good process.
Direct in substrate is a great option. The plug won't be a different characteristic than the pot you put it into later -- same abosrbancy etc.. maintains proper drying pattern for roots over time. Just need to make sure it's not "hot" soil. A high-nutrient medium will not help a seedling.
If you live in a cold climate, a heat mat (with soil-probe thermostat! 76-80F) can improve consistency of sprout times of multiple seeds. To avoid an irrigation while the sprout is still underground, a humidity dome can help delay the 2nd irrigation, but remove it once you get sprouts unless you live in a desert.
high water capacity medium - 50% perlite or similar
coco - 33% perlite or similar.
I am soilless, so i don't have to worry about a 'hot' soil. Promix comes in at 1EC charge give or take.. added vermiculite to get near 50/50 of total volume reduces that further.
Use some size-appropriate seedling starter pots. 2-3" etc. Fill, fullysaturate... fluff it up with a toothpick if you watered hard and caused a lot of compaction or perlite floated to top etc.
i compress a small hole with finger -- this creates a sturdy base for the seed - can't fall deeper into medium. pointing crown up can help, but even if down should be fine. i make sure they are horizontal for ease. Push in from sides to gently cover.. tamp down, but not hard. moist and dark is all you need. Start at 1/2" depth.
Adjust depth based on sprout times, but if you start seeing the seedshell remaining on too often, it's too shallow. ~3 days is a good number. Some will pop up in ~2 days.
my region is a bit cold without big lights heating things up, so i use a heating mat at 76F ... my sprout times went from a much wider range of 3-5+ days to ~3 days or less with only a few stragglers taking longer. Didn't really shorten it up, but made it significantly more consistent and smaller range of days. I plant 16 at a time to start but throw out the weak half to improve consistency of results. Avoids genetic defects, slow growers, etc...
If anxious.. start with only 1-2 seeds until you get a process you feel comfortable with. Don't fiddle with them... sow them, and look at them but don't touch and fuck around with them, lol. Before they break ground, make sure it stays moist. This is why i use a dome before sprouting... i don't want to have to irrigate before they have sprouted. then you know the tap root has driven down and you can safely engage in more othrodox irrigation. Never spritz, always fully saturate (10% runoff, if in soilless medium).
Be patient.. may take 7-8-9 days to sprout for various reasons. When you get up near 14 days, probably rotted in the medium, but don't give up before then and definitely don't go digging around... again, don't fuck with it.. leave it alone. People's OCD is as much of a problem as anything, lol.