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Clipping is no magic bullet either. It may sound good on the CD, but the codec for iTunes or other web delivery often sounds worse, and it often sounds worse on radio too (see the Orban/Foti article). Generous clipping has a tendency to make processes down the line more problematic. You should try to find a happy medium.
While most mastering engineers use a little clipping here and there, most also typically use a little bit of limiting too. The closest thing to a "trick" is to get a little bit from a lot of places. Don't rely on clipping, don't rely on limiting, and don't rely on compression. Use a little bit of each when appropriate. You may even do a little bit on two limiters instead of everything on one, and/or a bit of analog clipping plus a touch of digital clipping as well. Use your ears and see what combination works best for the song at hand. When using the digital domain for this, non-linear processes like these are usualy better at 2X sampling rates so that some of the junk is swept out with the trash when you filter with a good SRC back to 1X rates.
As for snare specifically, if you want a loud snare, mix a loud snare. I wouldn't chase mastering that hasn't even happened yet, and try to make a bunch of changes based on what I think might happen in mastering. Make it sound like you want it to, and a good mastering engineer will preserve as much of that as possible within the confines of the level you demand. The loudness wars definitely impact snare, and kick too, but all is not lost. The best way not to lose all your dynamics is to, ahem, not lose all your dynamics! Those pesky laws of physics...
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