Once you've bored a huge hole in your bass drum from an XLR socket, there's absolutely no going back.
Going back to what, aTRS through the vent hole?
You can take spectral analysis, blind fold tests, you're not going to hear the difference with a 7/8" sealed hole in the shell of your kick.
I certainly don't want to be dependent on a TRS-female XLR cord making my kick mic work. If anything happens to that cord you don't have a working mic. "Hey sound man, do you have a (20') male TRS to XLR female cord?" --- "Nope, sorry man."
You'd need a locking 1/4" socket to even have a chance at making real sense, then its still not as dependable (or practical- that cord again) as XLR.
The miniscule, exposed contact points on a 1/4" connection are not what I want inside my kicks, they bend, weaken and get dirty the more they get used.
Who wants to be replacing 1/4" jacks in their kick as general maintenance? You put a good chassis mount XLR in and your (most probably) never going to have to remove it.
You'll also get jacked for TR$-XLR cords b/c they're not that common. I considered locking 1/4" TRS, but XLR made so much more sense.
I too don't care for the idea of drilling the hole for the male XLR connector
I had reservations, till I did it, experienced how solid it is and how much it simplifies things. Sound men love it, they click the mic cord in and smile, nod and say "That's cool".
You don't get a positive connection with 1/4" not physically or mentally, you always question the contact, with speakers, mic's anything. How many times has a 1/4" cord not been plugged fully into a speaker or worked its way out? Not many, but it does happen and even once it too much.
I've 'never' encountered an XLR that wasn't full engaged, or one that had worked its way loose (1000's of connections).