Thanks for the long response. Much appreciated. I'll look into that tip, but I don't believe there's a need for engineering a hard snare hit...it should come very close to that from the outset without tricks.
While you're addressing midi velocities...
I'm unsure if its been addressed, but the DAW "Studio One 2 Pro" by Presonus has MIDI piano roll velocities ranging from 0-100. I'm not saying this is the issue, because the 100 is equivalent to 127 on standard piano rolls... But I will contact PreSonus or search their forums about this.