Digital BW, The Print

Following the suggestions on this board I purchased an Epson 9800 
and an Epson 4800 as my studio has a need for two printers.

The 4800 arrived a few days ago and if the quality of the printing 
is any indication of what the 9800 will all I can say is WOW.

My question is this;

I have read about many of the major RIPS. The Imageprint (4800 
Version available Monday) and Studioprint RIPS seem to be very 
popular. I have made test prints using the ABW and Black modes of 
the 4800. Both produce wonderfully smooth and glowing prints on EEM 
and PhotoRag papers (all I have right now).

I tried the QTR RIP and the seem to lack the local contrast and glow 
of the Epson 4800 Driver's prints and are not as impressive.

So, with that in mind, who makes the best rip available for printing 
B/W prints?

Thanks

Michael Johnson