BeerBorg

First, I am not an all grain snob. I highly support extract brewing. With that being said, I 95% brew all grain. Today I am doing a 100% DME beer and the wort flat out does not smell the same. It very much reminds me of the MrBeer days when you would open a can of LME, I'm not saying it is bad, just noticeably different.

Am I crazy here?

Not at all, I use DME for my starters and it does have a very different aroma.

not as fresh or complex

Try fresh LME. Not from a can.

I would like to think that I am not an all grain snob as I remember quite a few good and great beers made from 5 gallon extract with steeping grains kits. What I really notice are carbing and conditioning times. My all grain brews carb faster and are drinkable sooner (although they, of course, improve with aging). I would venture to say that the aroma is different because they are different animals.

I agree with The Prof...

Many extracts are a blend of two or more malt types...

Your AG wort may not have the same percentages of blend...

In addition to that difference, extracts are boiled and then dehydrated under vacuum presure (LME) or spray-dried (DME). There is more of a malliard reaction in extracts due to the above and as such should smell a bit different than a standard boil wort.

Then, of course, age plays a role as well.

Different animals in that sense...