How a hobby that was my emotional outlet became a passion.

History.

As a kid, I had many interests — building electronics, programming, design, and watching documentaries about nature and wildlife. My secret dream was to become a photographer for National Geographic. And yes, that did not happen. In 1996, my parents bought our first computer, and everything changed. I fell in love with technology almost instantly, and the dream of becoming a NatGeo explorer slowly faded away.

In high school, I discovered programming and, soon after, a passion for user interfaces. That defined the direction of my professional career, while building electronics remained a hobby.

After more than 15 years working as a product designer and spending my days in front of a monitor, I realized I needed something beyond the screen — an emotional outlet.

So I returned to nature and wildlife photography — and that is how I discovered field recording.

Very quickly, it became clear to me that equipment for this kind of recording is often not designed for real field conditions. So I decided to build my own microphones and accessories.

At first, it was just a weekend project — but it eventually became "Prutka".

Name.

The name "Prutka" comes from the Croatian word for a small bird species in the sandpiper family — the Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos), most often found along gravel or sandy shorelines, whether by the sea or along rivers.

The name was chosen because of its adaptability to terrain, its subtle presence, and its speed. And, at least to me, its playfulness — the way it walks and constantly moves its tail.

Those characteristics are exactly what I wanted from my line of microphones and accessories — adaptability, discretion, and reliability.

"Prutka" as a brand comes from Croatia, more precisely from Donji Miholjac, located along the Drava River. Surrounded by forests, fields, and wetlands, this area is a natural habitat for numerous birds and wildlife. Donji Miholjac is ideal for spending time outdoors, but most importantly for me — it's the perfect testing ground.

Philosophy.

Behind the brand stands years of experience in product design, gained through developing digital products that must be clear, efficient, and reliable — and that should make everyday activities easier, not more complicated.

I applied that same logic to all "Prutka" physical products. Design is design — whether you are building a mobile application or a physical product, the principle is the same. If something is unclear, complicated, or unnecessary — you're doing something wrong.

"Prutka" microphones and accessories are carefully designed, hand-assembled, and tested — there are no details added purely for aesthetics. Every element exists for a reason and must serve a purpose.

The main requirement I set for all "Prutka" products was simple: they had to be straightforward, intuitive, and practical to use — without unnecessary overthinking or frustration. After all, you don't want to lose a screw in the forest while assembling a stereo bar, do you?

Mechanics.

Since "Prutka" focuses on microphones and accessories designed for field recording, each product must be built with durability and reliability in mind.

For example, every microphone features a carefully designed strain relief whose primary purpose is to protect the cable from bending and wear. But what about pulling the cable out of the microphone body?

While some manufacturers simply glue the cable inside the housing or tie it in a knot to prevent it from being pulled out, "Prutka" microphones use an internal mechanism which, working together with the strain relief, prevents both pulling and pushing the cable into the microphone body.

The strain relief itself is not science fiction. It is literally heat shrink tubing. I do not present it as a spaceship-level innovation — but it is a good example of how sometimes the simplest solutions, used thoughtfully, solve real problems.

For accessories and microphone housings, additive manufacturing — 3D printing — is used, specifically MJF technology with PA12 material. Unlike traditional FDM printers, MJF produces dense, solid components without visible layer lines, which are often the weak point of home printing.

An MJF print is not a hollow structure with infill — it is a solid, homogeneous piece. Slightly flexible, durable, and finished with a subtle textured surface that resembles the look of rubber or metal. This texture improves handling in demanding field conditions, for example when wearing gloves.

Electronics and calibration.

The electronics inside the microphones and adapters are intentionally very simple. There are no "fancy" preamps and no complex circuits — just the capsule's internal FET and a transformerless single-ended, unbalanced circuit, known in the community as "Simple P48".

It is a well-known and proven circuit that delivers the cleanest and most authentic signal the microphone capsule can provide. The goal was not to add character or color, but to transmit exactly what the capsule captures — without alteration.

Each microphone is hand-assembled and soldered using high-quality materials, and all integrated components are of high quality and RoHS compliant.

Stereo microphone pairs are sensitivity-matched using a calibrated acoustic source at 1kHz and 94dB SPL. The sensitivity difference between two microphones in a stereo pair never exceeds 0.50dB — in practice, it is almost always lower.

To achieve the highest possible measurement precision and identify the best pairs, a dedicated application was developed to collect and process measurement data. The application takes six measurements per microphone, spaced two seconds apart, calculates the average in dBFS, and automatically forms pairs based on minimal dB difference.

The result of this approach is reliable microphones that simply work.

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