what kind of snare is it?
heads could be the issue..
Alex
Have you tried going through the drum's entire tuning range? It's a good idea to start from the batter head's lowest clean pitch and move upwards in small increments. Also experiment with different pitch relations between the batter and the resonant head. The snares can also contribute to the harshness -- a smaller number of wires will promote the drum's own tone, whereas a wide snare mat will give more crack and buzz...
Maybe its just the tuning, it sounds a bit dead.