Digital BW, The Print

I just tried running a roll of Photo Rag 308 (24"x39' roll) through 
my Epson 7600 and feel the results were somewhat mixed.

-I first ran a test via the Printer Service Utility that pointed to the 
"Enhanced Matte" media setting as the best starting point.

-Run through via the "Enhanced Matte" media setting I found the 
paper to handle areas of dark even tone very poorly.  There was 
both vertical and horizontal banding, not micro-banding but more 
like a buffing of the surface. (Note - that the printer driver is set to 
1440 and high speed is off.)

-I immediately started upping the setting for the paper thickness, 
knowing that the Photo Rag 308 is far thicker than Enhanced 
Matte.

-I found that setting the paper thickness to 11 (EM = 2) took care 
of the banding.  A setting of 15 did nothing further and seemed to 
lessen the blacks somewhat.

-So, with the banding solved some issues still remain.  I get the 
occasional flaking and random changes in surface reflectance.

Since I'm using rolls ( and wish to print 2'x3') I can't use the 
pre-print cleaning of the Photo Rag sheets that some 
recommend.  I also am wondering what's normal with the Photo 
Rag 308 surface in rolls...  I know it's sensitive but I'm finding the 
changes in surface reflectance that seem to be imperfections in 
the coating.  Some times it's little dots, some times it's an 
irregular splotch, sometimes it looks like a little hair.  Again, this 
seems to show up in areas of dark even tone.

Is this normal?  Do people just overlook it or find it does not 
matter once a print is framed.  Is Photo Rag 188 any better?  Is 
Museo/SFA any better (I know it has a slightly different look)?

Thanks,
Jon Roemer
http:\\www.jonroemer.com