Machinist superior then bards?

[LunarEmerald]

Bard and Machinist do about the same dps. Although I'd argue that mistakes will hurt Bard's less than Machinist's.
Machinist has more options for moving while under their stance but requires greater concentration. Equal I guess?
Both Bard and Machinist recover the same amount of MP. 265 normal and 530 with battle voice/hypercharge
Hypercharge lasts half the duration of battle voice but the cooldown is 120 seconds instead of 300. Overall, Machinist can recover more MP but Bard is better at recovering it in bursts.
Bard increases magical damage by 5/15% more than Machinist but can't increase physical damage. Bard is better to bring along if the majority of the dps are casters, Machinist otherwise.
Bard has to sacrifice MP to boost the damage of others. Machinist does not. They can boost damage for free every 120 seconds.
Bard can boost magical damage for ~72 seconds from full MP. Machinist can only boost magical/physical damage for ~24 seconds. For casters, Bard stomps all over Machinist.
Machinist can help reduce damage with dismantle and rend mind, Bard cannot. They can also inflict heavy, silence, knock back, bind and stun while Bard can only silence and bind.
They both have the same HP, MP, DEF and MDEF.
Bard can self-heal with second wind for ~1800 every 120 seconds. A Machinist can't outside of items. This makes Machinist a bit more squishy

In the big picture, Machinist is a bit better since they bring more utility but they're by far the two most similar jobs in the game right now.