I know what smell you're talking about and I've had similar questions. To me also it smells just... natural, neither good nor bad. I'd say it's more on the good side lol. It's just the oils in our hair and the hair itself. When I smell my hair, the only word that comes to mind is.. crispy.. don't ask me why. It doesn't feel crispy, it's soft! ;p Also I've had someone smell my hair and she didn't really smell anything, so that's good. No one has said anything to me yet lol.
I recently stopped using shampoo/conditioner and just go with baking soda and ACV. I'm on week three of this and my hair has adjusted and is less oily. I've noticed it's shinier now and actually brighter in color (brown). Like tonight, I totally forgot I hadn't washed my hair with BS/ACV in a full week. I didn't notice since my hair seemed fine and actually still doesn't have that smell since washing it a week ago. Of course I scrub my scalp with my fingers every time I take a shower so that counts as washing but when I say washing I mean BS/ACV.
I'm just now starting dreads. I guess these last few weeks were to get my hair adjusted for it all, unbeknownst to me at the time. It's been on my mind here and there for a while but I'm doing it now!