Reply to Controller/Sound Card for Ableton ~$1000?

First off, this site rocks! I've learned so much just by lurking the community s. Thanks to ean and all you mods who put in so much time!

But I need some advice. I'm just about to get started with DJing and am going to try my luck with Ableton.

I'm wondering what controller/sound card combination you'd all recommend. I love the idea of a Korg Zero 4 but it uses firewire, which my Alum Macbook doesn't have

But anyways, I have about $1000 to spend and need a solution that is adaptable to whatever DJ style I end up going with. I've looked at the Akai APC 40 some, but I'm not sure it'll really be the best for DJing. Is there something else that is popular that I should look into?

Thanks!