Digital BW, The Print

I tried using a Epson 1270 with Lyson quad blacks last year, and the prints 
started fading within months! So I happily bought the 2200 and am happy for 
the most part, but cannot seem to get consistent results when printing black 
and white images. I've thought about buying  another 2200 and looking into 
3rd party inks again, but after getting burned by the  Lyson inks I'm not sure 
where to go with this. What are most of you doing for nice B&W prints?  I'm 
using epson velvet for most prints and print mostly portraits.

Thanks,
Lynne Siler