I'm with Deanwork. I have tried ABW many times over the years and always come back to QTR. I did find it interesting that with the Epson Print Layout software one can "soft proof" in ABW, removing some of the "black box" aspect to using it. I used the "canned" settings in QTR since I do not have a spectro and am happy with the tonalities I get with the basic settings. QTR was one of the best $50 I've spent in some time.
I was introduced to it many years ago by a friend and it has been my goto for black and white since. I recently bought an Epson P900 after Roy Harrington, QTR's author, made QTR compatible with both matte and glossy paper. I printed the same image on QTR and with ABW. While it is clear they can't be matched exactly, QTR produced better shadow tones. I used Keith Cooper's black and white test image.
Good luck with the printing.