Hi Robin,
thanks very much for your post, I’m very pleased that you like the RND’s !
The sidechain functionality in the Comp 5043 will definitely be available with an update,
which will be released in about 2 months.
Regarding the price…I know they’re everything else but “cheap”. But this
is true for the price - and for the sound 
The development of the two plug-ins, based on VCM technology, has taken quite a
while as they should fulfil highest expectations, so this price really reflects the efforts
Neve, Yamaha and Steinberg have spend.
Thanks,
Timo