Digital BW, The Print

I finally got my hands on a little Epson C86 with the intent of making it a dedicated B&W 
printer. Before buying the MIS cartridges, I thought I'd give it a thorough workout with the 
Epson DuraBrite cartridges to make sure all is well. While I find it to be very competent as 
a little office printer, I'm seeing too much softness in the image for a photo printer. It is 
not the photoshop image that is actually soft because I printed the same images using an 
HP 8450 (color and black and white) and those were tack sharp with fine hair thin details 
and gradations. The images with the C86 even under the Photo RPM and Super Microweave 
turned on are just plain soft by comparison. I have been trying the Epson DuraBrite Ink 
Glossy Paper and the Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight so far.  Should I expect sharper 
prints and better gradation using the MIS inks? I've tried the C86 in color and black mode 
so far. 

Your views would be appreciated. 

Best, 
-Lynn