Amorphous and nanocrystalline Fe73.5Si15.5B7Cu1Nb3 ribbons were milled with a let-mill and a vibrating-cup-mill and were hot and cold pressed with polymer and mineral binder, respectively, into powder composite ring cores. Cold-pressed ring cores show smaller losses and no dependence of the permeability on the frequency. High particle size fractions give relatively high permeabilities at moderate losses suited for inductive components. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.