SmartAudio Volume "governor"

[CatilineConspirator]

Recently purchased X1 running Windows 7 (factory settings). When I plug in headphones and open SmartAudio in control panel, I can see it has a volume "governor" that is distinct from the system volume controls (buttons on the side of keyboard). The default is set at 50% volume and although I can easily increase it to 100%, I find this is still too low depending on background noise (even with the system volume at 100% also). I refuse to believe that this is as loud as the laptop can play music through headphones. I assume this is some puerile control built in to the SmartAudio driver. Anyone know how I can remove this volume limitation? Do I need a different driver or is there a workaround? Thanks